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.
R v Basil Al Jarah (guilty plea) R v Ziad Akle, Stephen Whiteley and Paul Bond (trial court: T20177415; 20187107) R v Paul Bond (retrial: T20177415; 20187107) R v Ziad...
Economic crime – which includes corruption, bribery, money laundering and fraud – poses a major risk to the UK’s national security, corrupts financial institutions and markets, reduces economic performance and...
New analysis from Spotlight on Corruption finds that the UK government spends the equivalent of just 0.042% of GDP (£852 million) per year on fighting economic crime, even though annually...
On 12 May 2017, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that it was investigating the oil and gas company Petrofac. Petrofac Limited is registered in Jersey and listed on the...
Sham litigation or legitimate investor claims? The extraordinary case of P&ID v Federal Republic of Nigeria 1. Arbitration Documents 2. Process and Industrial Developments Limited v The Federal Republic of...
Recent Court of Appeal hearing will be a key test for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) amid ongoing disclosure issues in other bribery prosecutions. The Court heard that the SFO...
Account Freezing Orders (AFO) were introduced in the UK in the 2017 Criminal Finances Act, alongside Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs), as a new measure designed to tackle illicit finance. While receiving far less attention than their glitzy sister order, AFOs are emerging as the preferred tool for law enforcement to freeze and recover corrupt assets in a relatively straightforward and cost-effective way.
On 17th February 2021, a UK employment tribunal found that Tom Martin – a former case controller at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) – had been unfairly and wrongfully dismissed....
