FCPA – UK style

We usually say that nature abhors a vacuum, but in this case, it seems that a diminished FCPA provides new opportunities for other governments to move forward.  The Law Society Gazette provided insight into the new offence of failure to prevent fraud under the United Kingdom’s Economic and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). “Tom Epps, white-collar defence and investigations partner at Cooley, described the measure as 'a landmark piece of legislation' for enforcement agencies. 'The act will have a material impact on the manner in which the UK authorities combat fraud and other economic crimes and in broad terms it makes it easier for prosecutors to hold companies criminally liable,' he said.”  Additionally, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office is seeking powers to incentivise individuals and companies to come forward and report offences in the UK and coupled with the new UK HM Revenue and Customs whistleblowing scheme, which has been previewed, there is a possibility of more whistleblowing and corporate self-reporting.

Why is this important? When the new administration in the United States declared that they were cutting back on the scope of the US’ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), most practitioners were concerned that the FCPA’s enforcement provisions would decrease and there would be a vacuum, filled by unscrupulous businessmen. This may still happen, but these new advances in UK, as well as the Serious Fraud Office's partnership with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre in June, shows us that there still is hope.

 Link:

 https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/in-focus-d-day-for-new-failure-to-prevent-offence/5124304.article