Avoiding Prosecution For Overseas Corruption: SFO´s New Self-Reporting Regime

On 21 July 2009, the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO"), issued guidance on its approach to dealing with overseas corruption (the "Guide"). In a welcome response to requests from businesses and professional advisers, the SFO has set out its policies designed to encourage businesses to self-report overseas corruption in return for civil settlements, without criminal sanctions being imposed and avoiding debarment from public contracts.

While the SFO has been talking about taking such an approach for some time, and even adopted something similar in reaching a settlement with a major engineering and construction company in October last year, this is the first time that it has formalised how the approach will work in practice.