In recent times there has been a distinct change in the emphasis by investigating authorities such as the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Services Authority. The draft Bribery Bill was laid before Parliament in March of this year and will doubtless be joining the plethora of other statutes covering business activities in due course. The Terrorism Bill and rafts of anti-money laundering regulations have seen an increase in cross-border investigations, particularly with the USA. In addition our own authorities are now jointly investigating alleged offences, as illustrated by recent cases involving Balfour Beatty plc and Aon insurers, where the companies self-reported financial irregularities and were fined £2.25m and £5.25m respectively. The fines in both cases were negotiated in a civil settlement and included “discounts” for co-operating with the investigating authorities.

All businesses should consider how they will implement procedures to deal with both current and forthcoming legislation, in particular if you are regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Companies need to have systems in place to deal with economic crime and the ability to detect bribery and corruption. In the current economic climate with so many businesses clamouring for work the risk for many companies is greatly increased and the disruption of an investigation is something that should be avoided at all cost.

Tanya Forret

Posted: September 29th, 2009 under Business Advisory Services, Business Regulation.
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