Uncovering The Role Of Multinational Business In State Corruption

Leigh Day’s International department is pleased to invite you to our seminar ‘Uncovering the role of multinational business in State corruption’.

The panel debate will discuss how multinational private sector organisations are facilitating state corruption around the world, and the impact that these activities are having on the citizens of these countries and the whistleblowers who bring the wrongdoing to light.

Panellists for the event will be:

• Andy Verity, BBC journalist, author ‘Rigged: The Incredible True Story of the Whistleblowers Jailed after Exposing the Rotten Heart of the Financial System’
• Lord Peter Hain, Labour peer
• Dr Sue Hawley, Executive Director of Spotlight on Corruption
• Amjad Rihan, winner of case Rihan v EY
• Paul Dowling, Partner at Leigh Day
• Chair | Rebekah Read, Senior Associate at Leigh Day

Speaker Bios:

Andy Verity

Andy is the award-winning economics correspondent for BBC News, covering finance and business on the BBC radio and TV bulletins as well as reporting for Panorama, BBC Newsnight and BBC Radio 4’s investigative strand, File on Four. For Panorama, he has presented high-impact investigative stories including a film which revealed the Bank of England’s role in the Libor interest rate rigging scandal. That was later followed up with a 2022 BBC Radio 4 investigative podcast series, The Lowball Tapes, which exposed evidence of an establishment cover-up of a huge fraud during the financial crisis and questioned the safety of convictions of traders prosecuted and jailed for interest rate ‘rigging’. In June 2023 he published a book on the scandal, Rigged, serialised in The Times, which exposed how the real interest rate rigging fraud, lowballing, was state-led.

Lord Peter Hain

The child of South African parents jailed, banned and forced into exile during the freedom struggle, aged 19 from 1969-70 Peter Hain led anti-apartheid campaigns to stop all-white South African sports tours. MP for Neath from 1991-2015 and a Privy Councillor, he served in the UK Labour Government for 12 years, 7 of these in the Cabinet, appointed a Life Peer in 2015. He negotiated the 2007 settlement to end the conflict in Northern Ireland and was a Foreign Minister with successive responsibilities for Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He has chaired the United Nations Security Council and negotiated international treaties. He was also Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Wales, Leader of the House of Commons and Energy Minister. From 2017 onward he exposed global corporate complicity during South Africa’s infamous ‘state capture’ decade under its former President Jacob Zuma, explained in his South African memoir, A Pretoria Boy published in 2021. His two thrillers about poaching, political corruption and international crime, set in South Africa, are The Rhino Conspiracy (2020) and its sequel The Elephant Conspiracy (2022).

Sue Hawley

Dr Susan Hawley is an anti-corruption expert who has researched and campaigned on the UK’s role in facilitating global corruption for over 20 years. Her work has included taking the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department to court for weakening anti-bribery procedures, challenging the decision to drop the investigation into the BAE/Al Yamamah scandal, working to secure aid funding for international anti-corruption enforcement in the UK, and being part of efforts to ensure that corporate liability was included in the Bribery Act. She is a founder of Spotlight on Corruption, having previously worked at Corruption Watch UK, The Corner House and Christian Aid on corruption issues.

Amjad Rihan

In 2013, whilst a partner at EY, Amjad Rihan worked on an audit of Kaloti’s business and gold sourcing practices, which would enable Kaloti to receive accreditation from gold industry regulators and access lucrative international gold markets. Mr Rihan found serious irregularities suggestive of money laundering. He faced intense pressure from EY global executives to obscure the audit findings. He felt he had no choice but to resign from EY and put the findings into the public domain. Leigh Day acted for Mr Rihan in a claim against EY, which he won in 2020. The judge found that EY had breached its duty to Mr Rihan, who he found to be “truthful, honest and reliable”. The judge found that EY had lost its “moral compass” by reason of its failure to perform the Kaloti audit in an ethical and professional manner.

Paul Dowling

Paul is a partner in the international department at Leigh Day, who specialises in international civil litigation. His practice spans human rights, environmental litigation, and international corruption & whistleblowing. Paul represented Mr Amjad Rihan in his claim against EY and is currently acting for a number of whistleblowers who have exposed corruption both in the UK and overseas.

Rebekah Read

Rebekah Read is a senior associate solicitor in the international department at Leigh Day, with over 10 years of experience in litigating international human rights, abuse, environmental, corruption and whistleblowing cases. She has worked on several claims on behalf of whistleblowers working overseas who have spoken out about corruption in their workplaces and have suffered devastating impacts on their careers and lives as a result.