Bribery and Corruption – Is There a Future for Self Reporting and Plea Bargaining?

In July 2009, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) issued a document entitled “Approach of the Serious Fraud Office Dealing with Overseas Corruption,” which encourages companies to approach the SFO to self report corruption in exchange for receiving a US-style plea bargain settlement, thus providing the company with certainty of outcome. However, in his white paper, “Bribery and Corruption – Is There a Future for Self Reporting and Plea Bargaining?,” Squire Sanders‘ Rob Elvin, partner in Manchester and the European Head of the Environmental, Safety and Health Group, observes how courts have been treating these settlements given that there are no legal procedures in the UK that cover self reporting or plea bargaining and that the SFO actually does not have the power to enter into these settlements.

Rob Elvin can be reached at rob.elvin@ssd.com.