Christopher Houssemayne du Boulay in Financial Times article about SFO “on the ropes”

Business Crime partner Christopher Houssmayne du Boulay has been quoted in a Financial Times feature entitled “Britain’s fraudbuster on the ropes”.

Pointing out that the Serious Fraud Office has, over the past ten years, achieved few major fraud convictions, the article argues “the agency is facing perhaps the biggest challenge since its 1988 formation, as it seeks to rebuild its credibility and justify its existence in a new era of white-collar crime”.

Christopher is quoted speaking about cases opened by the SFO since 2023, under the tenure of director Nick Ephgrave, who retired early from the role in April this year.

“Although they’re doing more things, kicking more doors in, they seem to be the smaller, simpler cases rather than the bigger investigations into British PLCs,” Christopher said.

“They’re refocusing on things that frankly could be dealt with by police, regional organised crime units or other investigating agencies — probably because the SFO has fared so poorly in big cases recently.

“If it’s just doing what other smaller bodies can do, then you do question what’s the point of the SFO in the overall law enforcement structure?”

The FT’s article is here.