FI And D&O International Review - May 2016

Since our last update, there have been significant developments in the FI and D&O landscape. November saw the first ever UK deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) announced between the SFO and Standard Bank. The DPA process has been available but unused since 2014 so the judgment and the SFO's comments thereafter provided some much needed guidance on what the process involved. Significantly, weight was placed on Standard Bank's early self-reporting and cooperation. Interestingly, the Sweett Group tried and failed to obtain a DPA, with one of the reasons cited for the failure being their lack of early cooperation, and they found themselves convicted under the Bribery Act and facing a substantial fine. We await with interest whether more companies will try and agree such an agreement with the SFO in the future and the implications this will inevitably have for D&Os and their insurers.