The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act has now been passed after delays in the House of Lords where there were calls to extend the anti-fraud rules to all sizes of businesses, not just the largest corporates. This was rejected by the government and the Act has now been given Royal Assent.

One of the main developments is the creation of a criminal offence, called ‘failure to prevent fraud’, which will hold a large organisation criminally liable if it benefits from a fraud that is committed by a member of staff.

An update to the legal principle known as the ‘identification doctrine’ will also ensure businesses can be held criminally liable for the actions of their senior managers who commit an economic crime.

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