If your business is under investigation for corporate crime, it is critical to seek specialist legal counsel without delay. At Steelyn Legal, we provide robust, discreet, and strategically sound advice to help organisations and their leaders navigate even the most serious corporate criminal matters.
In recent years, several significant legislative reforms have strengthened the framework for corporate criminal liability in the UK. Three landmark laws have reshaped how companies can be held criminally accountable:
The Bribery Act 2010 introduced a strict corporate criminal offence for the failure to prevent bribery carried out by associated parties — a term broadly defined to include third-party intermediaries, agents, and representatives. Companies must adopt a risk-based approach to appointing and monitoring intermediaries, and implement regular audits to ensure full compliance.
Steelyn Legal advises businesses on designing and implementing anti-bribery compliance frameworks and represents clients facing investigation or prosecution under the Bribery Act 2010.
Under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, a business can be held criminally liable if its intermediaries, agents, or associated persons facilitate tax evasion — whether in the UK or overseas. Companies are required to implement Reasonable Prevention Procedures (RPP) proportionate to the risks they face. A business can raise a defence if it demonstrates that adequate RPP were in place at the time of the alleged facilitation.
An organisation can be convicted of corporate manslaughter where its operations or management practices cause the death of an individual and there is a gross breach of the duty of care owed to that person. Prosecutions are relatively rare due to the high burden of proof required — the Crown must demonstrate that senior management's conduct played a substantial role in causing or contributing to the death.
Corporate crime encompasses a wide and growing range of potential prosecutions. Beyond the headline offences above, companies may face criminal charges relating to: