Rounding up their series on economic crime in the UK, Kate Bridgland, Oliver Cooke & Richard Marshall assess the potential of the proposed ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence
- The government is proposing a new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence for large organisations.
- While the new provisions are narrower in scope than many have called for, it would nonetheless be a welcome development by increasing the protections available for consumers and businesses.
In answer, at least partially, to calls which have existed for some time, particularly since the implementation of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010) and the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA 2017), the government is drafting a new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence. Billed as a measure to close loopholes in the existing statutory legislation, some will question whether the move goes far enough to close said loopholes, while others are likely to argue it is a practical, realistic and welcome step. So which is it?
What is proposed?
While the statutory drafting creating the proposed offence has
