On 25th October, McCann Fitzgerald reported that the Law Reform Commission has published its Report on Regulatory Powers and Corporate Offences, which focuses on reforms to financial regulatory powers and corporate criminal liability. It says that the Report is the culmination of one of the most complex and ambitious projects undertaken by the LRC to date, including over 3 years of research and wide-ranging public consultation. The Report makes over 200 recommendations for reform in the area of regulatory powers and corporate offences, including –
- a new Corporate Crime Agency and a dedicated unit should be established in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions;
- a Regulatory Guidance Office should be established;
- financial and economic regulators should each have a regulatory tool-kit that includes 6 “core” powers, including financial penalties;
- deferred prosecution agreements should be introduced;
- liability to a corporate body should be replaced by a new test that reflects the reality of how modern corporate bodies, especially large ones, actually operate;
- derivative liability should be imposed on a managerial agent in relation to that agent’s culpable contribution to any offending on the part of the corporate body;
- a due diligence defence should be available for corporate bodies and senior managers; and
- fault elements in the fraud offences should be expanded to include subjective recklessness.
https://www.mccannfitzgerald.com/knowledge/administrative-and-public-law/tackling_whitecollar_crime
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