A year in review: What progress has been made in relation to corporate criminal liability in the UK?

Johnson, Diana

Abstract

This paper will examine how the UKs approach towards corporate criminal liability has evolved since the publication of the Law Commission Options paper in June 2022. Corporate crime is a significant challenge for society, it causes harm to citizens, national economies and is challenging to enforce due to the shortcomings of the identification doctrine. Recent instances of wide-reaching harm resulting from corporate economic crime include that associated with the global financial crisis, market manipulation and large scale corporate fraud. Academics, regulators and commentators all agree that corporate crime must be tackled for the benefit of society at large, but that there is room for improvement in the corporate criminal liability laws. The options presented by the Law Commission to the UK government will be outlined, together with the rationale for the changes proposed. The Economic Crime (Corporate Transparency) Act will be analysed and the use of the Failure to Prevent offence in relation to Fraud will be compared to the previous Failure to Prevent offences contained in the Bribery Act 2010 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017. Conclusions will be reached as to the effect on companies of the Failure to Prevent Fraud offence.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: White Collar Crime - Challenges and Solutions
• Start Date: Dec 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 12, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11513808