The SFO – Time For Change?

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has dropped two investigations and spent millions on an unsuccessful prosecution. Neil Williams of business crime solicitors Rahman Ravelli looks at the pressures on the agency.

The SFO dropped investigations into Rolls-Royce and drugs manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline days after it was revealed that its unsuccessful prosecution of three Tesco executives cost £6.2M.

The agency's dropping of these investigations would indicate that the SFO is set to be more careful when choosing prosecutions. The Tesco saga saw the SFO agree a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the company over its 2014 accounting scandal. That saw the supermarket giant pay £129M and admit false accounting – only for all three executives charged with false accounting to be cleared. Roll-Royce also entered into a DPA with the SFO – and the agency would not want a repeat of its Tesco embarrassment.