Bright Line Law host breakfast on extra-territorial enforcement of UWOs

On 28 November 2019, Jonathan Fisher QC and Anita Clifford hosted a breakfast briefing for legal practitioners at the Ritz-Carlton in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) focusing on the potential for extra-territorial enforcement in the DIFC and onshore Dubai of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) and Interim Freezing Orders. Introduced in January 2018, the Unexplained Wealth Order is the most sparkling of the recent additions to the United Kingdom’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The provisions are broadly drafted and extra-territorial enforcement is squarely contemplated. Topics discussed by Jonathan and Anita at the briefing included the effect of recent DIFC freezing order decisions, conduit jurisdiction developments, the potential diplomatic immunity hurdle and other challenges to enforcement abroad of UWOs.