BCL partner, Richard Reichman discusses the newly released SFO Corporate Co-operation Guidance with Compliance Week.

Here’s an extract from the article*:

Last month, the SFO lost a case against three former executives of metals company Sarclad, which signed a DPA in 2016. Former Managing Director Michael Sorby, Senior Sales Manager Adrian Leek, and Project Manager David Justice were cleared of taking part in a £17m (U.S. $21 million) bribery plot.

Several lawyers say the list of requirements to attain leniency is long and comprehensive and at long last provides a template of what the SFO actually wants companies to do if they want to be considered for leniency.

In addition, some lawyers say the list of criteria is perhaps more indicative of the areas where the SFO has struggled to find the appropriate quality of evidence needed to prosecute cases successfully in the past.

Richard Reichman, a partner specialising in corporate crime, financial crime, and regulatory investigations at law firm BCL Solicitors, says that "while the guidance is helpful in providing some ground rules regarding what amounts to cooperation in the SFO's eyes, considerable uncertainty remains, including in relation to waiver of legal privilege," pointing out that "much greater detail is provided regarding what is expected of corporates than what they can expect from the SFO in return."

*This article was originally published by Compliance Week on 7th August 2019. To read the full article please visit their website here.

Richard Reichman is a partner at BCL, specialising in corporate crime, financial crime and regulatory investigations. He is recommended by The Legal 500 for his "extensive experience" and being "extremely thorough and appreciat[ing] the big picture issues". He has experience in a broad range of regulatory offences, such as health and safety (generally following major or fatal incidents), environmental, food safety, fire safety and trading, as well as financial offences such as fraud, bribery, insider dealing and money laundering. Richard is involved in cases involving cybercrime (for example, computer-specific offences such as hacking) or a technological dimension. He has acted for victims of cybersecurity breaches and advises regarding data protection issues falling within the scope of the Information Commissioner's Office.

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