Failure to prevent fraud to be a criminal offence in UK – will this be an effective deterrent?
Our Head of Advocacy Charles Bott KC spoke to GRIP this week about the UK’s new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, which is coming into effect next September.
The UK government has just issued guidance to those most affected by the new powers (mainly larger organisations), which were contained within the 2023 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
Charles said:
“Serious fraud is out of control and any measures that will genuinely help to prevent it are welcome. There is plenty to like in the spirit and intention of this new offence.
“But it will be difficult to prove and its scope is limited. The fear is that, like its sister offence in the Bribery Act, it will be rarely used and, as a consequence, its deterrent effect will be diminished.”