Fraud Focus, a new paper by IEA Academic and Research Director James Forder has been referenced in Emirati news outlet The National.

The article said:

“Despite the best efforts of its staff and successive directors, the suspicion persists that on high, the SFO is regarded as an inconvenience, a burden, not something worthy of full-on backing, from the government and establishment.

“This is borne out by a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, or IEA, think tank, calling for radical reform of the organisation, claiming that its problems stem from ‘cultural and institutional inadequacies’. The report says juries should be replaced with expert tribunals in complex fraud cases, but goes further, arguing the SFO could be abolished altogether and its responsibilities divided among existing law enforcement agencies.

“Dr James Forder, the report’s author, claims anti-fraud measures in England and Wales are ‘in crisis’. Says Forder: ‘The effective control of serious fraud is [essential to] being a global business centre, but in England and Wales this aspect of law enforcement is in crisis. The law and legal procedure have failed to keep pace with the growing complexity and scale of modern business. This requires serious and urgent attention.’

“He believes that ‘over a period of decades’, the SFO has ‘fallen far below the standards that should be expected and required of it’ and a ‘radical shake-up is now urgent’.”

Read the full article here.