New SFO Policy On Self-Reporting

Edited by Tyler Hodgson

On October 9, 2012, the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) released a new policy for corporations on self-reporting in relation to enforcement of the UK Bribery Act 2010. Providing for criminal offences for both domestic and foreign bribery, the Bribery Act 2010 implements the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

The new policy comes in response to criticism from the OECD, which had described certain aspects of the old policy as "unsound" and "overly generous" in its Phase 3 Working Report on Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in the United Kingdom.