Six steps to fend off ‘failure to prevent’ tax evasion charges
By Will Grahame-Clarke, 18 May 18
A law firm outlines how financial advice firms can protect themselves from the criminal offence of failing to prevent tax evasion.
Principle 6 – Monitoring and review
A review might be undertaken on a formal periodic basis but might also be prompted by market developments or the identification of criminal activity: the risk assessment will guide what is reasonable.
The report titled, UK corporate criminal offences: Failing to prevent facilitation of tax evasion, concludes: “The guidance includes a number of basic examples relating to branch and subsidiary situations which highlight the need for adequate prevention procedures to be implemented wherever staff and associated persons act and not just in the UK.
“Establishing ‘reasonable prevention procedures’ will also involve revisiting contracts with sub-contractors to ensure that those contracts require them to have necessary procedures in place.
“Implementation will be a large task for many organisations, particularly those operating globally.”
