Serious Fraud Office enters era of pragmatism

Recently appointed SFO director Nick Ephgrave’s foreword states he wants cases to ‘progress at a faster rate’, with ‘bold and pragmatic decisions’ taken on casework.

The strategy, published last week, sets out four key outcomes: to have ‘a highly specialised, engaged and skilled workforce’; keep on top of new technology; combat crime through ‘intelligence, enforcement and prevention’; and be a ‘proactive, authoritative player in the global and domestic justice system’.

Nick Barnard, partner at Corker Binning, noted Ephgrave ‘has decided to set aside the previous iteration of the SFO Strategy—which was intended to run until 2025—and begin his tenure with a fresh slate.’

Barnard said the focus on recruitment and retention was ‘notable’ as ‘this has been a problem for the SFO in recent years, which must be resolved if high-profile failures of the kind which dogged the [former director Lisa] Osofsky era are to be avoided’. 

Barnard pointed out Ephgrave’s repeated references to ‘pragmatism’—‘a word completely absent from the previous strategy. This may demonstrate an understanding that the SFO needs to be realistic on what it can achieve with the law and resources available to it.’

Louise Hodges, partner at Kingsley Napley, said the plan contained ‘some important new ideas… for example, the desire to increase or better use intelligence—whether real-time covert intelligence, whistleblowers or assisting offenders—would be a shift in SFO techniques, although not without risk.

‘A big question mark for me is which type of organisation the SFO sees as its target. So far, the investigations opened under the new director have involved relatively small and lesser-known businesses, some already in administration.’