Corporate criminal liability: shifting the burden of cost to the private sector

Bufton, Georgia 2025. Corporate criminal liability: shifting the burden of cost to the private sector. Meiselles, M., Ryder, N. and Giosa, P., eds. Contemporary Economic Crime, London, UK: Routledge, pp. 129-137. (10.4324/9781003324843-15)

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Abstract

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) marked a significant milestone in the United Kingdom’s (UK) effort to tackle economic crimeMeasures contained within this Act could bring in a new era for corporations, particularly due to the expansion of the notion of corporate criminal liability, with its introduction of a failure to prevent fraud offence (FTP). Therefore, this chapter focuses on these points. The FTP offence is akin to the ‘failure to prevent bribery’ and ‘failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion’ corporate offences created by the Bribery Act 2010 (BA) and Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA) (respectively). The extension of the FTP model to include fraud would not only aid prosecution for these failures but better focus the private sector on to prevent fraud that threatens companies. It does not appear a small concession given the widespread calls for a general FTP economic crime offence which would arguably have had a much greater impact on economic crime. As this represents a meaningful change to corporate criminal liability, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the legislative landscape and how the ECCTA fits in. Prior to analysing the provisions of the ECCTA, it is necessary to identify the reasons why the common law rules require reform. Here, an outline of why the ‘identification doctrine’ no longer reflects how corporate decision-making occurs will be provided. The case of Tesco Supermarkets Ltd. v Nattrasswill be under scrutiny because it locates responsibility at an unrealistically high level. The new approach to attributing criminal liability for economic crimes to certain bodies is explored with the expansion of the FTP fraud model. In addition to broadening the general scope for corporate criminal liability, comparisons will be drawn between FTP offences for bribery and fraud.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Cardiff Law & Politics
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781003324843
Last Modified:	10 Dec 2025 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183092

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