Courts are becoming “increasingly intolerant” of companies over e-disclosure failings and are imposing hefty sanctions.
Legal penalties such as a 50% reduction in costs awarded can reach millions of pounds with courts and regulators uninterested in excuses, according to a new report by PwC UK, The Future of E-disclosure 2020.
The problem has arisen because companies are storing an ever-increasing amount of data. PwC says corporate data volumes are growing by more than 40% a year. Outsourcing and cloud computing creates new risks as the company has less control over its data yet retains the obligation to disclose it in a timely and cost-effective manner, the report says.
Tom Lewis, partner and leader of PwC’s forensic technology soutions, said:
“Companies are generally good at creating and storing data but struggle to catalogue and retrieve it effectively.
“With employees increasingly being able to store information in perpetuity for little or no cost, this challenge will only become more acute.”
