Barclays Bank charged by Serious Fraud Office over Qatar loan – The Independent
‘The UK’s fraud watchdog has charged Barclays Bank over making a loan to Qatar back in 2008.’
The Independent, 12th February 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Category: Serious Fraud Office
Fraud office future secure as government eyes economic crime reform – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The future of the Serious Fraud Office has been secured under plans aimed at tackling economic crime – though it will have to answer to a newly created oversight body.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th December 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Serious Fraud Office zeros in on large-scale fraud as prosecutions for other offences fall – The Independent
‘As the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) increasingly focuses on large-scale frauds, the overall number of fraud prosecutions in the UK is falling, new figures show.’
The Independent, 5th November 2017
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Solicitor General’s speech at Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime – Attorney General’s Office
‘The Solicitor General discusses preventing and controlling economic crime in the modern world.’
Attorney General’s Office, 4th September 2017
Source: www.gov.uk/ago
Serious Fraud Office opens investigation into BAT bribery claims – The Guardian
‘Allegations that British American Tobacco was involved in bribery and corruption in Africa are being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, despite the cigarette company’s attempts to downplay the significance of a whistleblower who handed over a dossier of evidence.’
The Guardian, 1st August 2017
Source: www.theguardian.com
White collar crime prosecutions fall as offences rise – OUT-LAW.com
‘The number of white collar crime prosecutions in the UK fell by 12% between 2015 and 2016, despite a 4% increase in the number of reported offences.’
OUT-LAW.com,, 31st July 2017
Source: www.out-law.com
SFO granted a reprieve from plans to scrap it a day after Barclays charges – Daily Telegraph
‘The Serious Fraud Office appears to have been granted a reprieve from plans to abolish it in a U-turn that came just a day after the organisation targeted Barclays with the first criminal charges ever brought against a bank over the financial crisis. Controversial proposals in the Conservative manifesto to fold the SFO into the National Crime Agency were quietly dropped from the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday.’
Daily Telegraph, 21st June 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
SFO wins disclosure bid in legal privilege case – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Companies can no longer assume that private documents, including interview records used for internal investigations, will be protected after a High Court ruling this week, lawyers have claimed.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 10th May 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Serious Fraud Office boss warns big names to play ball – or else – The Guardian
‘David Green, the director of the Serious Fraud Office, has warned that British businesses should not consider deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) the “new normal” if they are caught misbehaving.’
The Guardian, 2nd April 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Lawyers divided on new white-collar crime offences – Law Society’s Gazette
‘US-style ‘vicarious liability’ and new ‘failure to prevent’ offences are under consideration in long-awaited government proposals to reform the law on corporate criminal liability published today. Initial reaction from corporate crime specialists was divided, with some lawyers seeing the proposals as a climb-down while others described them as a new burden on business.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 13th January 2017
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Serious Fraud Office given extra funds to investigate Unaoil bribery claims
‘The Serious Fraud Office has been given special funding to pursue its criminal investigation into a firm that has been implicated in an international bribery scandal.’
The Guardian, 1st November 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Serious Fraud Office steps up BHS investigation – The Guardian
‘The Serious Fraud Office has stepped up its inquiries into the collapse of BHS and the conduct of the department store chain’s former owner Dominic Chappell.’
The Guardian, 28th September 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
The Serious Fraud Office and Legal Representation During Section 2 Interviews – Crimeline
‘It is often assumed that an individual being interviewed by an investigative body, whether under caution or voluntarily, has a fundamental right to legal representation and advice. However, the publication of new guidelines by the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) on the presence of lawyers and the conduct of interviews conducted pursuant to section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (the “New Guidelines”) calls into question this assumption. This article will consider the New Guidelines which were issued following the case of Lord v the SFO[1].’
Crimeline, 15th August 2016
Source: www.crimeline.info
Serious Fraud Office launches criminal inquiry into Tata Steel – Daily Telegraph
‘The Serious Fraud Office has opened a criminal inquiry into Tata’s steel-making operation, the Telegraph can disclose.
Police officers are examining allegations that staff working for the company’s office in Britain may have falsified certificates detailing the composition of the product before they were sold.’
Daily Telegraph, 8th April 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
City lawyers concerned about change to SFO – The Independent
‘Senior City lawyers are railing against plans to subsume the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the National Crime Agency (NCA), amid fears of yet more disruption to the prosecution of white-collar crime.’
The Independent, 16th February 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Chickens coming home to roost: SFO’s first conviction of a company for bribery after contested trial – RPC Financial Services Blog
‘Hot on the heels of the SFO’s first conviction under the Bribery Act 2010, discussed in George’s post, and just as some of us were disappearing for a Christmas break, the SFO announced its first conviction of a company for bribery of foreign public officials after a contested trial. (Regular SFO-watchers will recall that in Mabey & Johnson (2009) and Innospec (2010), both companies pleaded guilty by agreement to offences involving bribery of foreign public officials.) This prosecution was not in fact under the much-trumpeted Bribery Act 2010, but under s1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.’
RPC Financial Services Blog, 7th January 2015
Source: www.rpc.co.uk
Two more guilty of record boiler room fraud – BBC News
‘New convictions in the UK’s biggest-ever boiler room scam bring the total convictions in this £70m fraud to nine.’
BBC News, 4th June 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Director of the Serious Fraud Office v B – WLR Daily
Director of the Serious Fraud Office v B [2014] UKSC 23; [2014] WLR (D) 151
‘A person who had been extradited to the United Kingdom for trial on a criminal charge, and who prior to his extradition had been guilty of contempt of court by disobeying a court order, could be punished for the contempt notwithstanding that it was not the basis of his extradition.’
WLR Daily, 2nd April 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
SFO head defends agency’s perceived “lack of appetite” for prosecuting senior UK bankers – OUT-LAW.com
‘The head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which investigates and prosecutes serious and organised crime in England and Wales, has defended the agency’s record against UK banks and senior bankers in the aftermath of the financial crisis.’
OUT-LAW.com, 6th October 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
Probation officers strike in protest at privatisation plans – The Guardian
“Thousands of probation officers across England and Wales are due to stage a 24-hour strike from midday on Tuesday in protest at plans to privatise 70% of their work.”
The Guardian, 5th November 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
