Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry
(Picture: PA Archive)Companies would be held liable for corporate crime committed by their employees under a Labour government, the shadow attorney general announced on Tuesday.
At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Emily Thornberry accused the Tory government of “waving the white flag to white collar crime” as she announced plans for a crackdown on fraud and money laundering.
Islington South and Finsbury MP Ms Thornberry said: “Fraud is now the UK’s most commonly experienced crime, an epidemic that the Government has ignored and dismissed.
“It’s time to get tough on fraud, and that must start at the top.”
Since 2013, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured just seven successful convictions of corporate entities for fraud, from a total of 26 pursued prosecutions, Ms Thornberry added.
The number of fraud cases reported in Britain has exploded in recent years. The crime is costing businesses and individuals in the UK an estimated £137 billion a year, according to data from the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at the University of Portsmouth.
Currently investigators must prove that business bosses are complicit in any financial crime before the company they run can be prosecuted.
Labour today pledged to scrap the requirement.
Among the new options being considered is the introduction of a US-style “Respondeat Superior” law, which would make companies criminally liable for the acts of employees.
Ms Thornberry said: “Too many company bosses have stolen from their workers, undercut their competitors and cheated the public purse in recent years because they know fraud is difficult to prove.
“We will change the law to make it easier to convict fraudulent companies, and change the culture at the SFO to make that their goal.”
