The Government has announced that:
- The offence will only apply to large companies, with small and medium enterprises [SMEs] being exempt;
- Individual liability for failure to prevent will not be introduced;
- The scope of the offence will encompass fraud and false accounting offences;
- The offence will apply if fraud is committed under UK law or if it targets UK nationals, even if the culpable organisation or employee is located overseas;
- The penalty fine would be unlimited;
- It will publish guidance on fraud prevention procedures and expectations on businesses in due course.
Firms should read the government-released factsheet on the offence to identify its potential implications.