All SFO articles
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News BriefSFO admits staffing challenges in annual report
Recruitment and retention are among the biggest issues facing the U.K. Serious Fraud Office as the agency gets set for a new director to take the reins.
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PremiumWhat should be priorities for incoming SFO director?
High staff turnover, low morale, and unattractive rates of pay are among the areas legal experts pointed to when discussing the potential agenda of Nick Ephgrave upon taking over as head of the U.K. Serious Fraud Office.
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PremiumSFO’s Balli Steel win latest to leverage international cooperation
The Serious Fraud Office secured the convictions of two executives at failed British steel trading business Balli Steel on six counts of fraud. Legal experts examine whether “record-breaking” international cooperation in the case served as a crutch for the U.K. regulator.
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ArticleGlencore Energy’s $324M fine for bribery comes with warning to others
Glencore Energy UK was ordered to pay nearly £281 million (U.S. $314 million) in fines and costs after an investigation by the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found it paid $29 million in bribes to gain preferential access to oil in Africa to boost profits.
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ArticleHBOS case latest example of U.K. senior exec accountability woes
The Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority ending their six-year investigations into former senior managers at HBOS without enforcement serves as reminder of the United Kingdom’s checkered history of bringing executives to book.
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ArticleSFO accepts ‘sobering’ results of Unaoil, Serco case reviews
The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office was criticized for its leadership, culture, and conduct in a report examining why the agency botched a key corruption case against Unaoil that has now seen three convictions overturned.
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ArticleLaw firm Dechert, SFO criticized in ENRC case ruling
A High Court judge found the U.K. Serious Fraud Office induced a lawyer from Dechert acting for Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. to provide it with privileged and unauthorized information.
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ArticleGlencore fined $1B, placed under 3-year monitorship for FCPA violations
Glencore International AG, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, will be placed under a three-year compliance monitorship and pay more than $1 billion to resolve multiple investigations into alleged bribes paid in several countries over more than a decade.
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ArticleSFO dealt blow after second Unaoil conviction overturned
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office was dealt another blow after Paul Bond, a former sales manager at Dutch energy services company SBM Offshore, had his 42-month jail sentence overturned because the agency failed to disclose vital evidence in its Unaoil case.
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ArticleSFO probing Arena Television collapse
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office announced an ongoing criminal investigation into the business practices of individuals associated with collapsed outside broadcast company Arena Television and its linked entities.
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ArticleAttorney general turns up heat on SFO with probe into Unaoil lapses
The U.K. attorney general is carrying out a review into why—and how—the Serious Fraud Office managed to botch a bribery investigation into Unaoil that saw one of the oil and gas consultancy’s former executives have his conviction overturned.
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ArticleSFO integrity questioned after Unaoil conviction overturned
The Serious Fraud Office will be investigated by the U.K. Attorney General’s Office after a court said the agency denied a convicted former oil and gas executive the right to a fair trial.
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ArticlePetrofac fine fallout: Penalty too light for SFO to claim success?
Petrofac’s relatively low penalty for multiple bribery offenses might encourage companies to take their chances when faced with the choice of a possible criminal conviction or cutting a deal with the Serious Fraud Office, legal experts warn.
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ArticlePetrofac to pay $105M for widespread bribery scheme
Petrofac was ordered to pay £77 million (U.S. $105 million) to conclude a long-running investigation into allegations company executives paid to win lucrative oil contracts in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
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ArticlePetrofac readies bribery guilty plea, touts compliance enhancements
Petrofac will plead guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery, the potential endpoint in a long-running investigation into allegations company executives paid to win lucrative contracts in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
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ArticleSFO secures DPAs worth $3.4M with two unnamed companies
The Serious Fraud Office announced deferred prosecution agreements worth £2.5 million (U.S. $3.4 million) with two unidentified U.K.-based companies for bribery offenses.
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Article10 years of U.K. Bribery Act: Compliance enough to define law’s success?
The U.K. Bribery Act marked its 10th anniversary this month, but views are mixed about how the legislation and its enforcement have fared in the decade since it came into force.
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ArticleSFO probing Sanjeev Gupta business ties to Greensill Capital
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering in financing arrangements between steel and mining magnate Sanjeev Gupta and recently collapsed Greensill Capital.
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ArticleDOJ joins SFO in corruption probe of Bombardier
The U.S. Department of Justice has joined the U.K. Serious Fraud Office in an ongoing investigation into plane maker Bombardier over suspected bribery and corruption relating to contracts and orders from airline carrier Garuda Indonesia.
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ArticleAirbus subsidiary GPT pleads guilty to corrupt acts in Saudi Arabia
Airbus subsidiary GPT Special Project Management will pay approximately £30.3 million (U.S. $42.1 million) after pleading guilty to corruption relating to contracts it was awarded for work carried out in Saudi Arabia.