Andrew Smith comments on Stuart Scott extradition case in The Times Law Brief, MailOnline and Financial Reporter

Ex-HSBC executive can face US extradition: UK court

A former currency trading executive at HSBC can be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges, a British court ruled on Thursday, days after a US jury found his alleged co-conspirator guilty.

Stuart Scott, the banking giant’s one-time head of currency trading in London, should be extradited to stand trial on fraud charges in America, a judge at Westminster magistrates’ court decided.

Andrew Smith, an extradition specialist at London law firm Corker Binning, said the judgement showed “the relative ease” of extraditing financial misconduct suspects from Britain to the US.

“Today’s judgment demonstrates the relative ease with which City professionals can be extradited from the UK to the US on allegations of financial misconduct.

The two countries enjoy a long-standing and trusted extradition relationship. It is an uncontroversial principle that jurisdiction can be founded in the country where the harm of the alleged criminality was felt.

Extradition lawyers in the UK know all too well that our judges will adopt a flexible interpretation of the conduct alleged in the extradition request in order to satisfy themselves that there is an equivalent UK offence. Given these risks, when faced with a US extradition request, a client should always be advised by UK and US lawyers about the merits of foregoing a protracted extradition battle and instead agreeing a negotiated return with bail conditions.”

Read the full article in The Times Law Brief, MailOnline and Financial Reporter.