The UK has multiple bodies responsible for investigating and enforcing breaches of the UK’s anti-corruption and money laundering laws. These include agencies for investigating and/or prosecuting overseas corruption offences, such as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the National Crime Agency (NCA). And multiple agencies for investigating and/or prosecuting money laundering including the NCA, HM Revenue & Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
We monitor how effective the different enforcement agencies are and developments in the enforcement landscape to see how they impact upon implementation of anti-corruption laws. We assess whether resourcing is adequate, whether enforcement agencies are able to attract and retain suitably qualified staff and whether the enforcement agencies have sufficient independence from political interference and corporate interests.
In a welcome move for the UK’s aid-funded enforcement efforts, in December last year the Foreign Secretary announced that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will extend its funding...
Today Spotlight on Corruption releases ‘Back of the courtroom queue’, a report by former Chief Crown Prosecutor Andrew Penhale on the immensely damaging impact that the crisis in the UK...
Backlogs in the courts now exceed 70,000, while more than a quarter (27%) of all trials are adjourned, and only 43% go ahead on time. The lack of judicial sitting...
Today, in an important ruling with wider implications for open justice, Spotlight on Corruption won the right to publish the transcripts and Court documents from a criminal trial that highlighted...
In a ground-breaking judgment handed down this morning, the Crown Court has given Spotlight on Corruption the go-ahead to publish the transcripts and 800 documents from the trial of two...
Today’s announcement that the Home Office and City of London Police have established a new pilot Domestic Corruption Unit is an incredibly important and welcome tipping point. According to the...
The appointment of a new Anti-Corruption Champion, alongside additional funding for the National Crime Agency and further Global Anti-Corruption sanctions designations are hugely welcome signs of the UK government’s determination...
When the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced a court settlement this summer with Zamira Hajiyeva it described the outcome of its first-ever McMafia order as a “fantastic” success. The justification...