On 19 July 2021, the High Court approved two separate deferred prosecution agreements (the “DPAs”) between the UK Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) and two UK-based companies (the “Companies”) for active participation in, and failure to prevent, bribery pursuant to sections 1 and 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 (read the SFO press release here). Continue reading
Tag: SFO
Ten Not Out! – SFO Secures Its Tenth DPA (Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd)
On 1 July 2021, coincidentally the tenth anniversary of the UK’s Bribery Act coming into force, the UK’s tenth deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) was approved between the UK Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) and Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited (“AFWEL”), a UK-based global engineering company (read the SFO press release here). This concludes the SFO’s four-year investigation of the legacy Foster Wheeler and Amec Foster Wheeler businesses. The DPA was previously agreed in principle at a private hearing held on 25 June 2021 before Lord Justice Edis, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice (see details of the private hearing here). Continue reading
The collapse of the SFO’s prosecution of former Serco executives: lessons for corporates
On 26 April 2021, the prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office (the “SFO“) of fraud charges against two former directors of Serco Geografix Limited (“Serco“) collapsed. The SFO offered no evidence against the defendants, and the presiding judge directed the jury to return verdicts of not guilty. This happened after it became apparent that the SFO had failed to disclose to the defendants certain relevant materials, rendering it unsafe for the prosecution to proceed. The SFO’s statement on the matter confirmed that it was “considering how best to undertake an assessment to prevent this from happening in the future”. Continue reading
Supreme Court judgment in the KBR v SFO appeal – limits to extraterritorial impact of the SFO’s document compulsion powers
On 5 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in a keenly anticipated case concerning the scope of extraterritorial application of the SFO’s section 2 powers, R (on the application of KBR, Inc) (Appellant) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (Respondent) [2021] UKSC 2 (“KBR v SFO”). Continue reading
Supreme Court hands down judgment in SFO’s case concerning the extraterritoriality of section 2 powers – Appeal of KBR is allowed
The Supreme Court has today handed down judgment in the case of R (on the application of KBR, Inc) (Appellant) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (Respondent) [2021] UKSC 2 concerning whether the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) can require a foreign company to produce documents held overseas, pursuant to its investigation powers under section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“CJA”). Continue reading
A deep dive into DPAs: seven takeaways from the new DPA guidance in the SFO’s Operational Handbook
In October 2020 the SFO published guidance regarding Deferred Prosecution Agreements (“DPAs”) in a new chapter of its Operational Handbook. The guidance offers a practical step-by-step map to the route that the SFO, and, therefore, a target company and its advisers, will traverse where seeking to negotiate an outcome that avoids the need for prosecution. Continue reading
Ministry of Justice publishes its Response to the Call for Evidence on Corporate Liability for Economic Crime
On 3 November 2020, the Ministry of Justice published its response (the “Government’s Response”) to its Call for Evidence on corporate liability for economic crime which was launched in January 2017 and ran until March 2017 (the “Call for Evidence”). The Government’s Response has been long awaited but does not reach any definitive conclusion on the way forward for reform. Continue reading
Fifth HSF webinar in Global CC&I Conference series: Corporate criminal liability
“Corporate criminal liability” was the topic for discussion by a global panel of HSF experts on 22 October 2020. The webinar formed part of our Global Conference Series, which has previously covered developments in: CC&I in the context of Covid-19; Anti-Bribery and Corruption and DPAs; global sanctions and whistleblowing. Continue reading
UK Supreme Court to decide on SFO’s extraterritorial powers
Two years have passed since the High Court decision in R (On The Application Of KBR Inc) v The Director of the Serious Fraud Office [2018] EWHC 2368 (Admin) (“KBR”) (see our summary of the decision here). Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard KBR’s appeal (“Appeal”) against that ruling, which had determined that the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”) can require a foreign company to produce documents held overseas, pursuant to section 2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 (“CJA”). Lord Pannick QC represented KBR Inc and Sir James Eadie QC represented the SFO. Continue reading
Lisa Osofsky re-examines the priorities of the SFO at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime
On 7 September 2020, Lisa Osofsky, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), delivered a keynote address at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime. In light of Covid-19, this year’s speech was delivered virtually, via YouTube. In her speech, Ms Osofsky re-examined the four key priorities that she outlined at her first address to the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in 2018 and referred to a number of new developments which she said would affect the SFO’s future work. Continue reading