Companies that fail to stop fraud and dishonesty by their staff and agents could face prosecution under a new plan floated by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office.
Britain’s top corporate fraud prosecutor says it wants to take the idea of holding companies responsible for corporate crimes committed by employees, a concept that is familiar in the United States but is relatively new in the United Kingdom, and apply it to more offenses than bribery. When it became law three years ago the U.K. Bribery Act criminalized companies that failed to prevent their staff and third parties from paying bribes or corrupting officials.
