The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has updated the Guralp Systems Ltd case timeline to note that the High Court has confirmed that the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Güralp Systems Ltd is enforceable. This follows the SFO’s November 2024 application alleging a breach of the DPA terms.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has updated its corporate cooperation guidance on self-reporting suspected fraud, bribery and corruption and published separate guidance on making a corporate self-report. Companies’ legal representatives can now discuss a potential self-report directly with the SFO’s Director of Legal Services and General Counsel, Matthew Wagstaff, before submitting a formal report, with companies able to request anonymity at this stage. The update also clarifies that companies should take a proportionate, risk-based approach to identifying the full extent of any criminal offending. It confirms that the SFO will, wherever possible, conclude deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) negotiations within six months of an invitation to negotiate being accepted.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has updated its corporate prosecution guidance, originally published in October 2021. The guidance outlines the common approach of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of the SFO to prosecuting corporate offences in England and Wales. The update comes ahead of the new fraud prevention law under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023), which takes effect on 1 September 2025 and will make large organisations legally responsible for preventing fraud by employees and other associated persons. The updated guidance also covers changes to the ‘identification doctrine’ under ECCTA 2023, which broadens the definition of who may be deemed responsible for a company’s actions.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced in July 2025 that the UK Supreme Court overturned the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) fraud convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo citing incorrect jury directions and confirmed that it will not seek retrials. The SFO has now identified five additional convictions—those of Jonathan Mathew, Jay Merchant, Alex Pabon, Philippe Moryoussef and Colin Bermingham—that may be unsafe due to similar jury direction issues. One conviction, that of Peter Johnson, has been deemed safe due to it resulting from a guilty plea. The SFO stated that affected defendants must individually decide whether to progress their cases to the Criminal Cases Review Commission or the Court of Appeal.

Law360: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) unveiled on 18 April 2024 its new five-year strategy focused on fraud prevention, the use of AI and greater use of covert intelligence, reflecting director Nick Ephgrave's intention for the agency to be more proactive and pragmatic.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has warned that companies which fail to self–report suspected economic crime face an increased risk of enforcement action. Speaking at a compliance conference in New York, interim director Graham McNulty stated that the agency is strengthening its intelligence-gathering capabilities using covert intelligence, whistleblower information, data aggregation tools and where appropriate, surveillance powers exercised in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies. The director reaffirmed the SFO’s position that companies which promptly self-report wrongdoing and cooperate fully will generally be considered for a deferred prosecution agreement, absent exceptional circumstances. The director also expressed support for proposals to incentivise whistleblowers and noted that the SFO is seeking to identify and investigate complex fraud more proactively.

Law360, London: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will receive additional funding that will bring its budget near the £100m mark in three years, the UK government pledged on 11 June 2025—funds that the white-collar crime prosecutor will invest in its investigatory capabilities and technology.

Law360, London: Matthew Wagstaff, the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) new top lawyer, is clear. Your client's conviction for fraud, bribery or corruption? It's safe. The interim director of legal services said, just weeks into the job, that the SFO's continuing internal review that is examining the soundness of historical convictions has not raised any cause for concern.

Law360, Expert Analysis: September 2025 marked two years since Nick Ephgrave took over as director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). At the outset of his appointment he was vocal about his aim to foster a more proactive and engaged SFO, an approach that is hardly surprising in circumstances where he had inherited a somewhat beleaguered agency, still bruised from the high-profile and fatal failures that plagued the likes of the Unaoil, G4S Ltd. and Serco Group PLC prosecutions during the tenure of his predecessor, Lisa Osofsky. Anoushka Warlow, partner, and Megan Curzon, associate at BCL Solicitors LLP, discuss the progress made under Ephgrave’s leadership and comment on how his reforms, new powers, and enforcement strategies are reshaping the SFO’s approach to corporate crime.

Law360, London: Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) reached a confidential settlement on 1 October 2024, ending a bitter legal battle over the prosecutor’s alleged leaks to the media during the life of an ill-fated criminal probe.

Law360: Bosses at big companies are escaping punishment by Britain's corporate watchdogs, even though major fines have been levied on many of them for serious wrongdoing, a report published on 7 February 2024 has found.

Law360: The Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) fifth new investigation in the five months since Nick Ephgrave took the helm shows the watchdog has focused on domestic fraud cases and delivered on the director's pledge to be bolder, lawyers say.