Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)

Serious Fraud Office
Agency overview
Formed	1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Employees	607 FTE (2023/24)
Annual budget	£36.35m (2011–12)
Jurisdictional structure
Legal jurisdiction	England and Wales Northern Ireland
Operational structure
Headquarters	2–4 Cockspur Street London SW1Y 5BS[2]
Elected officer responsible	Richard Hermer, Attorney General for England and Wales
Agency executive	Nick Ephgrave, Director
Website
www.sfo.gov.uk

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The SFO is accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales, and was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987,^[3] an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 grants the SFO powers to require any person (or business/bank) to provide any relevant documents (including confidential ones) and answer any relevant questions including ones about confidential matters. The SFO is the principal enforcer of the Bribery Act 2010, which has been designed to encourage good corporate governance and enhance the reputation of the City of London and the UK as a safe place to do business. Its jurisdiction does not extend to Scotland, where fraud and corruption are investigated by Police Scotland through their Specialist Crime Division, and prosecutions are undertaken by the Economic Crime Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.