The unattractive proposition

Mabey & Johnson may have agreed to plead guilty to corruption offences after self-reporting to the Serious Fraud Office but companies have not exactly been falling over themselves to own up and make a fresh start. Bill Waite of The Risk Advisory Group finds sound reasons for their reticence.

Bill Waite (+44 (0) 20 7578 0013, bill.waite@riskadvisory.net) is the Group CEO of The Risk Advisory Group plc, Europe’s largest privately owned corporate investigations and business intelligence practice.

A disappointing first year

Keith McCarthy, Head of Anti-Corruption at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) recently stated that UK corporations have shunned the US plea bargaining model, and rejected SFO Director Richard Alderman’s encouragement to come forward and confess all in return for more lenient treatment.