The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom is an independent government department and is part of the UK criminal justice system. It is accountable to the Attorney-General. Established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987, it commenced operation in April 1988.
The SFO investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and so its aim is to deter fraud and maintain confidence in the probity of business and financial services in the United Kingdom. The SFO does not have jurisdiction over Scotland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
The (SFO) acts as the focal point for receiving any allegations of corruption offences by UK nationals or incorporated bodies overseas and has undertaken responsibility for the initial review of all allegations received in this area. The City of London Police has an Overseas Anti-corruption Unit (OACU) with the specific function of supporting overseas corruption investigations undertaken by SFO (see http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/CityPolice/ECD/anticorruptionunit/).
Furthermore, the SFO liaises with authorities in many national jurisdictions and also with supranational bodies such as OLAF, the anti-fraud office of the European Union (http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/index_en.html).
For the purposes of MLA there is a internally unit devoted to handling incoming international requests for mutual legal assistance in cases of serious or complex fraud. They are able to assist foreign authorities using investigative powers under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987. To receive this kind of help, an overseas authority must first make the request for assistance to the UK Central Authority at the Home Office who will refer the case to the SFO who will examine it in detail to judge whether they can assist.
Serious Fraud Office Guidelines can be found at http://www.sfo.gov.uk/international/evidence_uk.asp.
