Failure to prevent fraud: Cohen & Gresser assesses the consequences of imminent UK Corporate Fraud Liability Reform

The UK Government has published a draft amendment to the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill, which will create a new corporate failure to prevent fraud offence. While talk of the new offence as a “game changer” may be optimistic, the offence has significant implications not only for the investigation and prosecution of complex fraud in the UK but also for the enforcement risk created for “large” UK and non-UK companies which have UK customers.

In this article, Sir David Green CB KC, John Gibson, and Tim Harris discuss the terms of the offence, analyse its practical consequences and draw conclusions as to how law enforcement investigative strategy may change in response.