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The new corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud came into
force on 1 September 2025.
The new strict liability offence, which is contained in the
ECCTA, will be committed by an in-scope organisation if an
associate (which includes employees, agents and subsidiaries)
commits a specified fraud offence, such as false accounting, with
the intention of benefitting the organisation or any of its
customers.
A company will have a defence if it had reasonable fraud
prevention procedures in place.
The Home Office has published statutory guidance for organisations on the new offence,
which provides insight into what will be expected of organisations
in terms of fraud prevention procedures. However, the guidance is
not prescriptive, so careful thought and proper engagement will be
required to ensure a company has appropriate measures in place.
You can read more about the offence in our snapshot here and our corporate crime team's more
detailed briefing here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
