Bark & Co Solicitors powerpoint

The director of the Serious Fraud O"ce (SFO)
and the Solicitor General, Edward Garnier QC,
have recently made no secret of the fact that they
consider the criminal justice system to be incapable of
dealing with corporate prosecutions in a way that refflects
commercial realities. The blunt impact of a prosecution
of a company has the impact of damaging innocent
parties including employees, shareholders and creditors.
Garnier cited the cautionary example of the ill-effects
of prosecution caused to Arthur Andersen, eventually
acquitted on charges of obstruction of justice by the US
Supreme Court, many years after the allegations had
destroyed the company.
US prosecutors have a tool at their
disposal, the deferred prosecution
agreement (DPA), which is being
touted as a viable alternative to the
present options of either prosecution
or civil recovery.