On 17 January 2020 the UK Serious Fraud Office
("SFO") updated its Operational Handbook to include a
new chapter on evaluating a compliance programme (the
“New Chapter“). The New Chapter
considers the relevance of compliance programmes for SFO cases and
how the SFO will investigate the effectiveness of a compliance
programme.
The SFO’s Operational Handbook is for internal SFO
guidance, does not constitute official guidance to third parties
and is published in the interests of transparency. However, it can
be instructive in revealing the SFO's approach to certain
matters. In this briefing we provide an overview of the New
Chapter.
Relevance of Compliance for SFO Cases
The New Chapter defines a compliance programme as an
“...organisation’s internal systems and procedures
for helping to ensure that the organisation – and those
working there – comply with legal requirements and internal
policies and procedures“. It states that, whenever
investigating an
