Shaul Brazil and Jonathan Flynn write for Fraud Intelligence on prosecuting companies in the UK

Shaul Brazil and Jonathan Flynn write for Fraud Intelligence on prosecuting companies in the UK

BCL’s Shaul Brazil and Jonathan Flynn‘s article, “Why is it so hard to prosecute companies in the UK?” has been published by Fraud Intelligence.

Here’s a quote from the article*:

“In March 2019, Corruption Watch published a report highlighting the disparity between corporate prosecutions in the UK and the US for certain financial crimes that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis. The report concluded that, over the past ten years, the UK has failed to bring a single successful corporate prosecution for this type of conduct, and has imposed just under £2.5 billion in non-criminal fines. During the same period, the US has brought close to 20 successful corporate prosecutions against New York and London banks, and has imposed more than £25 billion in both criminal and non-criminal fines.

The existence of this UK and US ‘corporate crime gap’ (as the report describes it) begs an obvious question: why is it so hard to prosecute companies in the UK? The answer is that the law in the UK for establishing corporate criminal liability is not fit for purpose.”

* This article was originally published by Fraud Intelligence on July 11th 2019. You can read the full version here.

Shaul Brazil is a partner at BCL specialising in business crime and regulatory enforcement, acting for individuals and companies in complex cross-border matters. He has extensive experience advising on multi-jurisdictional corruption and fraud investigations, asset recovery proceedings (in the UK and overseas), and extradition proceedings (in particular, politically motivated requests). He has acted in numerous high-profile investigations and prosecutions brought by the SFO and many other UK and overseas enforcement authorities.

Jonathan Flynn is an employed barrister at BCL specialising in criminal and regulatory law. He has particular expertise in fraud, bribery and corruption, restraint and confiscation proceedings, and general crime. Jonathan has acted in a number of high-profile, complex and multi-jurisdictional cases, including investigations/prosecutions by the SFO, FCA, HMRC, and NCA.