The Serious Fraud Office has today expanded its global reach by
joining the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre
(IACCC), strengthening the UK's ability to tackle grand
corruption and illicit finance across borders.
This strategic alliance builds on the SFO's recent establishment
of a taskforce with French and Swiss authorities to tackle
international bribery and corruption.
Based within the National Crime Agency, the IACCC brings together
specialist law enforcement officers from agencies around the
world to tackle allegations of grand corruption that span
multiple jurisdictions.
Organisations with a proven intention to fight domestic and
international corruption can be considered for membership, with
the SFO gaining enhanced access to key partners in the fight
against grand corruption involving politically exposed
persons.
The partnership will boost the SFO's capacity to gather
intelligence and evidence on companies and individuals suspected
of corruption overseas while maintaining full control over its
investigations.
Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director at the Serious Fraud Office
(SFO), said:
This is another step forward for the SFO and further
demonstration of our determination to use every power and
partnership we can to confront the threat of bribery and
corruption.
This membership will bring us closer to global law enforcement
and strengthen our intelligence gathering capabilities on those
companies and individuals engaged in international bribery and
corruption.
The SFO recently issued new guidance to companies on their
responsibilities to report suspected criminality.
Rob Jones, Director General of Operations at the NCA,
said:
We welcome the SFO's membership of the International
Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre. Their membership will assist
the collective effort of supporting overseas partners with hugely
important investigations into grand corruption.
Since its launch in 2017 the IACCC has helped identify over £1.8
billion of suspected stolen assets, supported the freezing of
nearly half of those assets in various global jurisdictions, and
helped with the arrest and charging of a significant number of
suspects involved in high profile investigations in over 40
separate countries.
