When there is no evidence of wrongdoing

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has closed its criminal investigation into the conduct of the Bank of England saying that, after a thorough investigation, there is “no evidence of criminality in relation to this matter”.

The SFO had been looking into whether banks and building societies had been told by the Bank to bid for liquidity funding in late 2007 and early 2008 at a particular rate to minimise questions about the state of their balance sheets.   Although the Bank reported itself to the SFO following an internal enquiry, the enquiry itself was an unprecedented occurrence for the Bank.

Many people think that the result of a forensic investigation is a foregone conclusion under the ‘no smoke without fire’ theory but these investigations are used as often to prove innocence as to provide evidence of guilt.  The point about a forensic investigation is that it is totally unbiased – all that matters is the evidence.

Author: Roger Isaacs, 30 June 2017

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