deferred prosecution agreements

UK: Deferred prosecution agreements - success or failure

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A deferred prosecution is a device used by prosecutors to allow suspected criminals to buy what amounts to a judicially approved arrangement to avoid prosecution so long as the accused meets certain conditions for a certain period of time. Critics (of which this newspaper is one) see it as a bribe; supporters see it as a way of compelling the accused to do whatever it is that the prosecuting authority wants. Developed in the USA, there is a global move towards adoption of this tactic. The former head of the UK's Serious Fraud Office was a fan; he's been replaced by an American who has been immersed in this system. How's it going?

FCRO Subsection:

Financial Crime Risk Officers - OpEd

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Deferred Prosecution Agreements - UK style.

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Our sister publication, World Money Laundering Report, has always adopted the view the Deferred Prosecution Agreements are legalised bribery to enable companies and their officers to evade prosecution for crimes committed.

Alun MIlford, General Counsel of the UK's Serious Fraud Office argues, in a speech to the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime, 2017, that the DFA is a useful tool, and that the UK version is materially different from the US version on which it is based.

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deferred prosecution agreements