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.
The Economic Crime Plan is a really welcome set of commitments from the government but needs to be matched by much more ambitious public investment, including in training, if the...
There is broad consensus that current UK whistleblowing protections are not fit for purpose and excellent work is being done in Parliament to promote the creation of an Office of...
While most analyses of the newly published Integrated Review refresh (IR2023) – which sets out the UK’s overarching national security and international strategy – have focused on defence spending and...
Saman Ahsani, one of the kingpins of the corrupt Unaoil empire, was recently sentenced in a Houston courtroom to one year in a minimum security prison and a $1.5 million...
Spotlight on Corruption has written to the Serious Fraud Office to call for action to recover any assets in the UK that are the proceeds of corruption belonging to the...
A lot has happened since the NCA Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) published its last annual report in November 2020 on suspicious activity reports on money laundering. Though Russia’s 2022 invasion...
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) – the UK’s top fraud fighting body – has been in the news again in ways it won’t welcome after top KC Clare Montgomery called...
The SFO has come under intense scrutiny after a series of high-profile setbacks, with recent reviews by Brian Altman KC and Sir David Calvert-Smith KC providing forensic insight into the...