FSA Enforcement Procedure

Leniency & Co-operation

Laurence Lieberman, Paul Glass and Howard Fischer address the trans-Atlantic differences in cooperation agreements

Traditionally, the English courts have been critical of plea-bargaining, co-operation agreements and immunity agreements. This is perhaps best reflected by the comments of Mr Justice Bean in December 2010 in relation to the settlement reached between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and BAE Systems following the well-publicised corruption investigations into BAE by the SFO and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Judge was scathing about the settlement entered into between the SFO and BAE, and noted that, whether or not pleas have been agreed, the Judge is not bound by any such agreement, and any view formed by the prosecution on a proposed basis of plea is deemed to be conditional on the Judge’s acceptance of the basis of plea. Exploiting this unease, defence Counsel will no doubt emphasise that witnesses may have received some benefit for their testimony, which may carry more weight with English judges than it might in the U.S., where plea bargains and such attacks on evidence obtained as a result are more commonplace.

Click here to read full article

Lawyers Laurence Lieberman, Paul Glass