Information for Suppliers - Corporate 'Failure to Prevent Fraud' Offence

Description

To all current and future CWAC Suppliers, Contractors, Third Party Associates, and External Partners The new ‘failure to prevent fraud’ offence, introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) came into force on 1 September 2025 and has significant implications for organisations operating in the UK, including Local Authorities. The new offence states that an organisation can be held criminally liable if a connected or associated person (such as an employee, volunteer, associate, contractor, agent, supplier, employees of subsidiary companies, related charities or partner organisations) commits fraud with the intention of benefiting the organisation, or a related body, and the organisation cannot demonstrate it had reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place to prevent fraud from occurring. For more information please see attachment. Keywords: Information Only