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APPENDIX B

Case selection tools

Financial Services Authority

Referral criteria:

• has there been actual or potential consumer loss/detriment?
• is there evidence of financial crime or risk of financial crime?
• are there actions or potential breaches that could undermine public confidence in the orderliness of financial markets?
• are there issues that indicate a widespread problem or weakness at the firm/issuer?
• is there evidence that the firm/issuer/individual has profited from the action or potential breaches?
• has the firm/issuer/individual failed to bring the actions or potential breaches to the attention of the FSA?
• is the issue to be referred relevant to an FSA strategic priority?
• if the issue does not fall within an FSA strategic priority, does the conduct in question make the conduct particularly egregious and presenting a serious risk to one of the FSA's Objectives?
• what was the reaction of the firm/issuer/individual to the breach?
• overall, is the use of the enforcement tool likely to further the FSA's aims and Objectives?

Serious Fraud Office

The key criterion used when deciding whether to accept a case is that the suspected fraud appears to be so serious or complex that its investigation should be carried out by those responsible for its prosecution:

' The SFO could not - and does not - take on every referred case of suspected fraud. SFO resources must be focused on major and complicated fraud.'⁹

Factors considered:

• does the value of the alleged fraud exceed £1 million?
• is there a significant international dimension?
• is the case likely to be of widespread public concern?
• does the case require highly specialised knowledge, e.g. of financial markets?
• is there a need to use the SFO's special powers, such as Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act?

City of London Police Economic Crime Unit

Case Acceptance Criteria

The City of London Police has a comprehensive selection process ¹⁰ that includes not only acceptance factors such as those above, but actually details cases that may or may not be accepted.

Criteria for non-selection which, if met, will not be investigated:

• cases where the victim's motive for making the complaint appears to be malicious, primarily focused on recovering monies owed, or designed to distract attention form the complainant's own involvement in the fraud. (Such cases might nevertheless merit investigation, particularly where there are other victims involved.);
• cases where victims are not prepared to co-operate fully with the investigation and prosecution, although the police will always consider carefully how to assist victims and witnesses who have concerns about safety;
• frauds more suitable for investigation by another enforcement or regulatory agency.

Criteria for non selection which, if met, may not be investigated:

• cases where another police force has decided not to investigate other than for geographical reasons;
• frauds that have already been investigated by the police or other enforcement agency or that have been the subject of regulatory proceedings, unless significant new evidence has come to light or the previous investigation had a narrow remit that did not address all the relevant issues;
• cases where the existence of other proceedings might have a detrimental effect on a criminal investigation and subsequent prosecution.

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