White Collar Crime: A Comparative Perspective

Description

White collar crime has expanded significantly over the course of the past two decades. Yet, not only has the amount of national and international legislation in the field grown, but it has also endured changes driving it away from the classic criminal law. These trends have been reflected in changes to national legislation, not infrequently prompted by supranational law, for example, in the financial or the environmental sector. New punishing regimes have emerged, such as UN blacklisting, smart sanctions, civil asset forfeiture, financial supervisory powers, compliance law, and antimony laundering laws. Furthermore, the role of administrative sanctioning law has been growing as well as the role of private actors in the enforcement of punitive sanctions. The aim of this volume is to examine how various national criminal justice systems across Europe deal with the aforementioned challenges. In the first part, it takes a closer look at the following national systems: France, Germany, Poland and Sweden. Furthermore, it compares the European approach with the American one as a source of inspiration for unresolved difficulties and future developments. Further still, the authors explore those challenging issues regarding the field of economic and financial crime, including the Senior Managers Regime, corporate criminal liability, and whistle-blowers’ protection. Timely and pertinent, this is an important new work in a fast-moving field. Volume 7 in the series Hart Studies in European Criminal Law Foreword by John Vervaele Contents Table of Cases Table of Legislation Table of Treaties and Other International Instruments Notes on Contributors 1. Challenges and Trends in Enforcing Economic and Financial Crime: Criminal Law and Alternatives in Europe and the US I. The Need for Comparative Research in Economic and Financial Criminal Law II. Investigating and Prosecuting Economic and Financial Crime: Where Does the Challenge Lie Today? III. New Legal Responses IV. The Legal Limits of New Control Systems 2. Enforcing Economic and Financial Policies in National Systems – Financial Markets Regulation, Environmental Law and Competition Law 2.1 France Introduction: The Paradoxes of French Economic and Financial Criminal Law I. Contemporary Challenges and Recent Reforms II. Substantive Criminal Law III. The Administration of Justice IV. Criminal Procedure V. Cooperation between Authorities and Jurisdictional Issues 2.2 Poland Introduction I. Contemporary Challenges and Recent Reforms II. Substantive Criminal Law III. Administration of Justice IV. Criminal Procedure V. Cooperation between Authorities and Jurisdictional Issues 2.3 Sweden I. Contemporary Challenges and Recent Reforms II. Substantive Criminal Law III. Administration of Justice IV. Criminal Procedure V. Cooperation between Authorities and Jurisdictional Issues 2.4 The US I. Introduction II. Misconduct Affecting Financial Markets: Federal Securities Fraud III. Environmental Crimes IV. Federal Antitrust (Competition Law) 3. Regulating Instead of Punishing: The Senior Managers Regimein the UK I. Introduction II. Misconduct in Context III. Personal Responsibility: Respondingto the Financial Crisis IV. Identification of the Scope of Responsibility V. Attribution of Responsibility VI. Enforcement VII. Conclusions 4. Economic Crime in the UK: Corporate and Individual Liability I. Introduction II. The Concept of Corporate Criminal Accountability III. A Brief History of Corporate CriminalLiability in the UK IV. The Example of Bribery V. Methods and Rates of Enforcementof Economic Crimes VI. Extending Failure to Prevent VII. Corporate and/or Individual Prosecutions? 5. Corporate Criminal Liability and Groups of Corporations: A Need for a More Economic Approach? I. Introduction II. Corporate Criminal Liability: Some Common Features and Principles III. Challenges to the Legal Approach IV. Towards a More Economic Approach to Corporate Criminal Liability? V. EU Competition Law as an Example? Punitive Liability of Undertakings VI. Conclusion: The Advantages and Disadvantages of an Economic Approach 6. The Privilege against Self-Incrimination of Corporations I. Introduction II. Preliminary Challenges III. Corporations and the Privilege against Self-Incrimination in the US IV. Corporations and the Privilege against Self-Incrimination in the EU V. Conclusion 7. The Criminalisation and Protection of Whistleblowers in the EU's Counter-Financial Crime Framework I. Introduction II. The General Legal Framework Governing High-Risk Sector Employees III. The Role of High-Risk Sector Employees and the Risks They Face IV. The Perspectives of EU Member States V. Recommendations on How Whistleblowers Can Be Empowered to Report in the Financial Crime Context Index