Bribery, fraud and anti-money laundering | Regulatory Outlook June 2022

Law Commission publishes options paper on corporate criminal liability

Since November 2020, the Law Commission has been tasked by the government with reviewing the law on corporate criminal liability. Following several consultations and a period of analysis, the Law Commission has now published its options paper for the government which provides a number of options for law reform. As set out on the Law Commission's project page, the overriding principles include a need for one or more general rules of attribution to cover offences generally; a need for conviction on the basis of collective negligence within a corporation, without needing to identify a single natural person; the introduction of various "failure to prevent" offences, including failure to prevent fraud by an associated person and failure to prevent computer misuse; and a suggestion that neglect as the basis of a director's liability should only come into play in offences of strict liability or negligence. 

The government will now review and consider the options paper before deciding whether to implement the suggestions. 

For more information on this, see our Insight.