§ 23. Mr. BayleyTo ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement about the work of the Serious Fraud Office.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Serious Fraud Office is currently working on the investigation and prosecution of 51 cases of serious and/or complex fraud.
§ Mr. BayleyDoes the Attorney-General support the proposal, which is being canvassed widely at the moment, that many serious frauds should in future be dealt with not by criminal proceedings but by City regulatory bodies? Has he looked at the most recent report from the SFO to this House, which shows that the average amount of money involved in the 48 cases under consideration when the report was presented to us is in excess of £100 million? If the courts are to be less used in future, at what level of money will a fraud be regarded as serious enough to press criminal proceedings in a court of law?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe cases that come before the SFO are, by and large, very big, heavy and complex cases. I agree that the SFO should consider carefully with the regulators whether there is a case for certain of the cases that it is considering prosecuting being dealt with by regulators. Where there is substantial plundering of public or private moneys by the alleged offenders, that is a proper case for prosecution in a court of law.