The U.K. Bribery Act arrived this summer in a hail of publicity. But that act won’t move mountains without a subtle but seismic change in Britain’s legal superstructure.
What the U.K. needs is a mechanism to allow for some leniency for cooperating defendants. Some of Britain’s top enforcement officials agree: The U.K. solicitor general has quietly floated the idea of adopting U.S.–style deferred prosecution agreements, according to the Financial Times, while the Serious Fraud Office is lobbying the Home Office and Justice Ministry to push a plea bargain bill through Parliament.
