‘Failure to prevent’ – wider but on target?

Ian Hargreaves (+44 (0)20 7111 2040, Ian.Hargreaves@eu.kwm.com) is a partner and Head of Investigations, Fraud and Compliance at King & Wood Mallesons.

The Attorney General’s comments at the Cambridge Symposium on 5 September on extending the “failure to prevent” corporate criminal liability to all economic crime has created a frenzy of press reports including front page headlines warning of a “Crackdown on white-collar crime”. [1] It is suggested that company boards could face prosecution for failing to prevent their staff from committing fraud. But what does this mean? asks Ian Hargreaves of King & Wood Mallesons.