Aziz Rahman examines what the deferred prosecution agreement
the supermarket giant has reached with the SFO may mean for other corporates.

By agreeing to pay the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) £129m in
fines for misreporting profits in 2014, Tesco has achieved two notable things.

It has avoided being prosecuted after a two-year SFO
investigation. And it has thrust the issue of corporate liability even further
into the spotlight, at a time when the government is taking a very close look
at the difficulty in securing corporate prosecutions.

Tesco will pay the £129m financial penalty and the SFO's
full costs under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).
Crucially, however, it does not have to admit any liability for the scandal.

This was a scandal that involved accounting discrepancies
which saw Tesco post profits in September 2014 that were overstated by £326M.
There can be little doubt that Tesco will be pleased to see this ending without
it being prosecuted.

Liability

What must be considered here is the issue of liability.

Tesco may be “out of the woods’’ when it comes to avoiding
prosecution. But, on top of its fine, it is having to pay investors £85M. It
has certainly been held to account, even if it has not been found to be
criminally liable.

We may never know if this was because, as some have said, it
is too difficult to prosecute a corporate. SFO Director David Green has spoken
forcefully about the obstacles faced when trying to bring a corporate
prosecution.

He argued that the need to identify the “controlling mind’’
of the company and show that this person was complicit in the criminality can
actually make it easier to prosecute a small business in the UK rather than a
large one. In a small company, it is harder for those at the top to keep their
distance from what may be going on.

This may well be why the UK government has announced
consultations reforming corporate criminal liability.

Prosecution

If the government is determined to see more corporates
prosecuted, it could widen the net regarding who can be considered the
controlling mind of a company. This would increase the scope for a corporate
prosecution.

Alternatively, the creation of a strict liability offence
could make it easier to prosecute corporates. Possible examples could be making
a corporate liable for any conduct by its employees or representatives or any
failing to meet its statutory duty to prevent economic crime. Such liability
removes the controlling mind obstacle that David Green bemoaned.

The possibility of a failure to prevent offence has been
suggested. But as this would most likely require the prosecution to prove both
the initial offence and that it happened due to a failure of management, it is
hard to see how this would increase the likelihood of there being more
successful corporate prosecutions.

Whatever may be introduced in the future will not change the
fact that Tesco has avoided prosecution. It could be argued that whatever may
become law in the future regarding corporate liability, the eventual
legislation is sure to expect that companies have devised and maintained
business crime prevention procedures. Only by doing this will they have any chance
of not being prosecuted if wrongdoing is identified.

Accountable

The Tesco situation differs from that of Rolls-Royce; which saw
the engineering giant pay £671M under a DPA while decisions still had to be
made about whether any individuals would be charged.

Yet they have much in common: a vast company found to have
done wrong and a lengthy investigation that ends with a colossal fine but no
corporate prosecution.

With the head of the SFO saying openly that it is almost too
difficult to charge the big corporates, the ongoing consultation has to produce
a way to remove the idea that big business is too big to be held accountable.
Certainly, the SFO’s willingness to enter into DPA’s with both Tesco and
Rolls-Royce indicates that the “big boys’’ are gaining the best possible
outcome.

Compliance

If government consultation does produce results regarding
corporate liability, it could signal a culture change through many corridors of
power. If liability is to be placed firmly at the door of the corporates, each and
every one of them will have to examine closely their compliance procedures.

If anything, they should have been doing this already. A
proactive approach to crime prevention in any business involves strong,
appropriate and well-maintained preventative measures.

Having these in place will be the best way for any corporate
to reduce the chances of it becoming the subject of a criminal investigation.
Such measures will also be the best possible defence to any accusations,
whatever changes are made to the issue of corporate liability.

That is because however the law may change, companies have
to make sure their procedures are fit for purpose when it comes to meeting
their legal requirements. The law will always require corporates to be
compliant and vigilant when it comes to crime prevention. A failure to meet
that expectation could be costly.

More from Rahman Ravelli