Traditionally, in England and Wales, a firm could be found guilty of some economic crimes only if its “directing mind and will” had been involved in the offense. This is the so-called identification doctrine.

However, amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill are currently making their way through Parliament could change this.

In this article for Corporate Compliance Insights, Neil Swift, Craig Hogg and Louisa Keech explain what the background to the identification doctrine is, what the potential amendments in the bill are, what they would mean for compliance and what happens next.