Corruption Enforcement Tracker

There are a number of authorities who are charged with the investigation and prosecution of corruption offences in the UK. These include the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the National Crime Agency (NCA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Crown Office). The NCA was established in October 2013 to oversee the law enforcement response to bribery and corruption. However, the SFO remains the lead agency for investigating large and complex cases of corporate bribery and corruption, and enforcing the Bribery Act in respect of overseas corruption by British businesses. The FCA has no jurisdiction to prosecute cases of bribery, but can impose sanctions on a regulated institution for failing to have adequate systems and controls in place to prevent bribery.

While there has been a considerable amount of corruption enforcement activity in recent years, only a limited number of prosecutions have been brought under the Bribery Act 2010. Perception of the effectiveness of the legislation varies greatly – some hail it as a landmark which better regulates the behaviour of corporate entities and their boards, others consider it a missed opportunity that has generated few convictions and had little practical effect. Presently, the SFO has confirmed publicly that it has a number of significant corporate investigations ongoing, and so it may not be long before further Bribery Act charges are brought.

Recently, key sectors which have been vulnerable to enforcement action globally include the extractive industries, engineering/construction and manufacturers/service providers, with these sectors together representing a significant amount of known domestic and foreign bribery enforcement activity (excluding investigations being conducted by the United States). In recent times, the pharmaceuticals industry and the financial services sector have also come under scrutiny by regulators across the globe. Enforcement activity in the UK is likely to have a similar focus, the SFO having confirmed that it will conduct "sweeps" of sectors it considers to be the most vulnerable to economic crime, such as construction, public contracts and the oil and gas industry.

This tracker follows key fraud and corruption enforcement actions by the UK authorities, with a focus on investigations relating to corporate wrongdoing. However, it is worth noting that enforcement activity is also rising in a number of other jurisdictions. UK companies operating overseas may find themselves increasingly under the scrutiny of the domestic authorities in the countries in which they operate.