With the SFO laying down tough conditions to those seeking a
deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), Aziz Rahman examines what
companies need to do to have a chance of securing one.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has made it clear that it
isn't feeling generous.
In a hard-hitting but illuminating speech, Camilla de Silva, the
SFO's Joint Head of Bribery and Corruption, made it clear that
deferred prosecution agreements (DPA's) would not be given out
to each and every company seeking one.
She chose an address at a conference of financial experts to
emphasise that a DPA will not be appropriate in every case and that
the alternative, where there is evidence of criminal conduct, is
prosecution. According to her, there will be little or no chance of
a DPA for those who do not self-report, offer little or no genuine
cooperation with an SFO investigation and show no real appetite for
changing working practices. Her message is clear: if those boxes
aren't ticked, there
