sfo

Foster Wheeler Limited a UK registered subsidiary of a complex group, part of which is listed on the USA's NASDAQ and therefore falls within the jurisdiction of many US laws even though it is a Swiss domiciled subsidiary of a UK group. Amongst those is the Foreign Corrupt Payments Act or FCPA. This relates to payments by a person with a US footprint making corrupt payments to persons outside the USA. Foster Wheeler Energy Limited is also part of the same group and is also a UK registered company. That brings its actions squarely within the remit of the Serious Fraud Office, regardless of where those actions take place. Moreover, there are agreements with Ministério Público Federal (‘MPF’), the Comptroller General’s Office (‘CGU’) and the Solicitor General (‘AGU’) in Brazil.

A report in yesterday's Law Society's Gazette quotes a passage from a speech given by David Green, the outgoing head of the Serious Fraud Office under whose watch the SFO's performance has seen a significant improvement. But there is one area where this publication forcefully disagrees with him: the development of US-style Deferred Prosecution Agreements. In his speech, he speaks strongly in favour of them, it is reported.