SFO outlines five-year strategy amid ‘increasing pace of change’
By 
Jeff Dale2024-04-22T13:00:00
The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said in a five-year strategic plan it’s “struggled to keep pace with demand” as ballooning casework shows no signs of slowing down.
The “SFO Strategy 2024-29,” published Thursday, outlined how the U.K. prosecutor will thwart financial crime, fraud, and corruption as it faces new challenges from the “increasing pace of change and technological innovation.”
“The SFO needs to be seen as a strong, dynamic, confident, and pragmatic organization,” Nick Ephgrave, SFO director, said in the strategy. “… [T]his means ensuring that SFO cases progress at a faster rate” and that the agency be a “partner of choice domestically and internationally.”
Related articles
-
PremiumExperts question effectiveness of new enforcement tool SFO is finally wielding
The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office has made its first use of an enforcement tool that was meant to bring oligarchs and kleptocrats to book. But lawyers are unsure whether the move signifies either a change in direction or fortune for the agency.
-
PremiumExperts: Prepare now with U.K. failure to prevent fraud offense on horizon
Fraud prevention is about to get more complicated with penalties rising sharply for U.K. organizations. Starting Sept. 1, larger businesses will be liable to criminal prosecution if any of their employees–or an agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person”–commits fraud that is intended to benefit the company.
-
PremiumSFO staffing shortages improve under new leadership
Staffing shortages that have plagued the U.K. Serious Fraud Office are trending in the right direction since its new director took charge, with the anti-bribery agency forging ahead with initiatives to ensure its future sustainability.
More from Regulatory Policy
-
PremiumU.K. FCA establishes framework for unlisted companies to trade shares on a ‘buyer-beware’ basis
Private companies that are keen to trade their shares but do not wish to become listed have gained another way to trade their shares. The U.K. government completed its initial review and published rules for the system in June.
-
ArticleDOJ is ramping up, not ramping down, health care fraud enforcement
While the Trump administration may have shifted away from pursuing small, white-collar, financial crimes, its focus on health care fraud cases is as hot as ever.
-
ArticleU.K. enforcement appetite over off-channel comms grows as U.S. wanes
The U.K’.s financial regulator has given a strong indication that financial firms’ use of unauthorized devices and apps is under scrutiny and that policies around off-channel communications need to be tightened up.