Determine whether an organisation meets the size thresholds that bring it within scope of the failure to prevent fraud offence.
Law & Contract Management
Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence and Designing Reasonable Prevention Procedures
Prepares risk, legal and compliance teams to assess exposure under the failure to prevent fraud offence and to design, document and test reasonable prevention procedures.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A new corporate offence holds large organisations criminally liable when an employee, agent or other associated person commits fraud intended to benefit the organisation, unless the organisation can show it had reasonable prevention procedures in place. That defence cannot be improvised after the fact: it depends on a documented risk assessment, proportionate controls and evidence that the organisation actually acted on what the assessment found. This course works through the elements of the offence, the size thresholds that bring an organisation into scope, and the categories of associated persons whose conduct can trigger liability. Participants build a fraud risk assessment covering revenue recognition, procurement, expenses and third-party channels, then translate it into a prevention policy, training programme and escalation route modelled on the principles used for anti-bribery compliance. The course closes with internal audit testing and board reporting, so the organisation can evidence the defence credibly if an incident occurs.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Identify the categories of associated persons whose fraudulent conduct can trigger corporate liability.
Conduct a fraud risk assessment covering revenue, procurement, expenses and third-party relationships.
Design proportionate prevention procedures modelled on top-level commitment and due diligence principles.
Draft a fraud prevention policy and supporting controls that can be evidenced to investigators after an incident.
Build training and escalation channels that give staff a clear route to report suspected fraudulent conduct.
Prepare a monitoring and review programme that keeps prevention procedures current as the business changes.
Who Should Attend
General counsel and legal directors assessing corporate criminal exposure
Heads of compliance building or updating an anti-fraud control framework
Internal audit managers testing the adequacy of prevention procedures
Finance directors responsible for procurement and expense controls
Risk officers conducting enterprise fraud risk assessments
Company secretaries preparing board papers on fraud prevention
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01The Offence, Scope and Corporate Exposure
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Elements of the Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence
- Explain how the offence attaches corporate liability when an associated person commits a base fraud offence.
- Apply the size thresholds for turnover, balance sheet and employee numbers that bring an organisation into scope.
- Identify the base fraud offences, including false representation and fraudulent trading, that can trigger liability.
- Distinguish employee, agent and subsidiary conduct captured as an associated person under the offence.
Session 2Benefit to the Organisation and Prosecutorial Approach
- Assess when fraud is treated as intended to benefit the organisation rather than only the individual involved.
- Review published guidance on how prosecutors are expected to approach corporate fraud cases.
- Map group structures to identify which entities within a corporate group carry independent exposure.
- Compare the offence with existing failure to prevent bribery and facilitation of tax evasion offences.
02Fraud Risk Assessment Across the Business
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Mapping Fraud Risk by Business Process
- Assess revenue recognition and sales practices for risk of misrepresentation to customers or investors.
- Review procurement and supplier onboarding for risk of collusion, kickbacks or falsified invoicing.
- Examine expense claims, payroll and petty cash processes for risk of internal fraudulent conduct.
- Assess third-party intermediaries and joint ventures for fraud risk arising from associated persons.
Session 2Documenting and Prioritising Identified Risks
- Score identified fraud risks by likelihood and impact to prioritise where controls are strengthened first.
- Build a fraud risk register that links each risk to an owner, control and residual risk rating.
- Benchmark the risk assessment methodology against the approach used for bribery and corruption risk.
- Present the fraud risk assessment to the audit committee with a proposed remediation timetable.
03Designing Proportionate Prevention Procedures
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Governance, Policy and Due Diligence Controls
- Secure top-level commitment by embedding fraud prevention responsibility in a named senior role.
- Draft a fraud prevention policy that sets clear expectations for staff, agents and third parties.
- Design due diligence procedures for onboarding agents, distributors and joint venture partners.
- Build segregation of duties and approval controls into procurement, payments and expense systems.
Session 2Communication, Training and Reporting Channels
- Develop role-based training that explains fraud red flags relevant to each function's daily work.
- Establish a confidential reporting channel and protect staff who raise fraud concerns in good faith.
- Communicate the fraud prevention policy to associated persons through contracts and supplier codes of conduct.
- Set escalation triggers that route suspected fraud promptly to legal, compliance and senior management.
04Testing, Evidencing and Maintaining the Defence
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Internal Audit Testing and Evidence Gathering
- Design internal audit test plans that sample transactions for compliance with fraud prevention controls.
- Document control testing results in a form that supports the reasonable procedures defence if challenged.
- Investigate control failures identified during testing and record remedial action taken in response.
- Coordinate with external auditors on fraud risk findings that affect financial statement assurance.
Session 2Continuous Review and Board Assurance
- Set a review cycle that updates the risk assessment and procedures after mergers or new market entry.
- Prepare an annual board report attesting to the operation and effectiveness of prevention procedures.
- Benchmark prevention procedures against sector guidance and enforcement outcomes as they develop.
- Build a post-incident review process that feeds lessons learned back into the prevention framework.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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