Regulatory powers in dealing with market malpractice are a powerful weapon in the fight against fraud. The dishonest, incompetent and insolvent are prevented from obtaining a licence to conduct investment business in the first place, while others will be fined heavily and have their licences taken away if they do offend. The SFO will work in close co-operation with the FSA to share information, to carry out joint investigations where appropriate and thus save delay. We will agree a protocol, where cases straddle the regulatory and the criminal arenas, to decide whether the regulator or the criminal investigator should take the case on. In the next ten years I look forward to seeing the SFO going from strength to strength.
Commercial fraud is fast growing and an ever more threatening phenomenon.
It is a negative force to be reckoned with in world economies. The SFO has a vital role to play in fighting transnational fraud.