On 17 January 2017, Sir Brian Leveson QC approved the UK’s third Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”), resulting in orders for disgorgement, penalties and costs exceeding £500 million. This is the largest DPA since their introduction in the UK in 2014. Herbert Smith Freehills’ London Corporate Crime and Investigations team negotiated the first DPA with the Serious Fraud Office (“SFO”), which was concluded in November 2015.

This latest agreement confirms the position that they are becoming a more important and useful tool for the SFO in tackling financial crime, at a time when the government is consulting and taking other steps to increase the offences available to prosecutors in respect of corporates.

See the full briefing here.