Failure to prevent fraud – An introduction to the proposed new UK offence

The long-debated bid to usher in a failure-to-prevent approach to fraud has wide implications for British business

This week saw the UK Government's long-awaited introduction of a proposed new offence of failure to prevent fraud. There has been a long-standing debate in the UK regarding the desirability of reform to corporate criminal liability. This culminated in an assurance by Security Minister Tom Tugendhat MP earlier this year that the government would introduce a proposed "failure to prevent" offence during the progress through the House of Lords of the existing Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. That offence, which focuses on the failure to prevent fraud, is contained in amendments to the Bill which were proposed on 11 April 2023. In this briefing, we take a first look at the newly proposed offence and its key elements.

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