Dan Hudson and Maitreyee Dixit write for Law360 on supply chain ESG investigations
1 May 2025
As ESG enforcement intensifies, companies face growing legal, regulatory and commercial pressure to address misconduct across their global supply chains. In a new article for Law360, Seladore’s Dan Hudson and Maitreyee Dixit, writing with Jamas Hodivala KC of Matrix Chambers, outline the legal, strategic and governance case for conducting internal investigations into supply chain risks – and how to do them well.
Recent decisions by the English courts underscore the direction of travel. In World Uyghur Congress v National Crime Agency [2024] EWCA Civ 715, the Court of Appeal confirmed that products linked to forced labour may constitute criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act. And in Limbu v Dyson [2024] EWCA Civ 1564, the Court of Appeal signalled a growing willingness to entertain ESG-related tort claims against UK parent companies for the acts of independent overseas suppliers – potentially extending Vedanta-style liability beyond subsidiaries. We will explore the jurisdictional implications of Limbu in a forthcoming piece.
Alongside this, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 expands corporate criminal liability, including via the new offence of failure to prevent fraud (in force from September 2025), reinforcing the need for companies to investigate red flags proactively and credibly.
Independent investigations – properly structured – enhance privilege protection, support regulatory positioning, and help companies manage narrative risk before others do. Investors, lenders and insurers are increasingly demanding hard evidence of ethical supply chain management and those companies that build investigative capacity into their governance frameworks will be best placed to meet the moment.