The AO Hall and GTA University Centre conference at the St Pierre Park Hotel. (0599929)
THE second fraud conference organised by AO Hall Advocates and the GTA University Centre has been hailed a success. More than 150 delegates from Guernsey’s financial and legal sectors attended the event at the St Pierre Park Hotel on Friday.
Following the success of the pre-conference dinner with PR guru Max Clifford on Thursday, the conference featured top-level speakers from international legal firms.
Entitled ‘Corporate Fraud is a Very Real Risk’, it outlined how pervasive fraud can be and how difficult it is to prevent and combat it and gain compensation. AO Hall co-founding partner Louise Hall said she was delighted with the calibre of institutions that had sent delegates.
‘The standard of questions and interest in the subject matter shows how important the issue of fraud is to Guernsey in terms of understanding, combating and preventing it,’ she said.
Richard Walker, director of policy and international affairs at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, set the theme by outlining how persistent the issue is in today’s society.
Taking 2008 alone, he mentioned Societe Generale’s three billion euro fraud, Bear Stearns’ current malaise and the ongoing investigation in the UK of construction companies for bid-rigging.
Paul Byles of Focus Consulting spoke about the problems that fraud poses in terms of the regulatory framework and gave delegates a view on how different jurisdictions can learn from one another.
‘It was especially helpful to have the input of Paul Byles as his comparisons with offshore legislation in other jurisdictions demonstrates how we can learn and progress our own approach locally,’ said Mrs Hall.
‘Events like these bestow knowledge that benefits local industries and helps us maintain the international reputation of offshore jurisdictions.’
Allen & Overy LLP partner Robert Hunter gave an account of recent developments and trends in the international framework for the recovery of the proceeds of fraud. He described two types of fraudsters – those acting in a crisis and habitual deceivers.
The latter are repeat offenders who do not stop – and it is these who are most difficult to deal with, he said.
11 Stone Buildings commercial litigator Ian Smith spoke about choosing between civil and criminal proceedings when prosecuting acts of fraud.
Clifford Chance partner Jeremy Kosky took delegates through how to handle fraud in a crisis, while AO Hall co-founding partner Alison Ozanne described techniques to combat it within organisations.
Finally, Adam Johnson of Herbert Smith gave an in-depth review of the problems posed for trusts.
GTA University Centre deputy chief executive Fiona Naftel said the conference
had featured an unprecedented line-up of quality speakers.
‘It demonstrates the high interest in this type of event in Guernsey. Holding it locally not only allows industries access to knowledge that they might otherwise have had to travel to the UK to gain, but it also allows us to make the topics spoken about relevant to Guernsey.
‘There really was something for everyone.’
Article posted on 30th June, 2008 - 2.30pm
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