SFO fosters City ties with latest hire
INVESTMENT fund chairman Simon Duckworth has joined the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as a non-executive director, in the latest move by the regulator to strengthen ties with the City.
Duckworth, who chairs Barings Targeted Return Fund and holds non-executive positions at Fidelity European Values and Aim-listed IT security firm Accumuli, will join the SFO on 1 July.
He is also chairman of the City of London Police Authority and the National Olympics Security Oversight Group, and plans to boost links between the City and the police to better tackle economic crime.
“The SFO and the City of London Police are the two primary delivery agencies for the identification, investigation and prosecution of major economic crime in this country,” said Duckworth. “The opportunity to help both organisations work even more effectively together is a compelling challenge.”
The announcement comes after home secretary Theresa May said last week that the SFO would continue to operate as an autonomous body, as she unveiled details of the new National Crime Agency.
But the future of the regulator remains unclear, with a review of the SFO’s structure planned for next year, likely coinciding with director Richard Alderman’s plans to step down.
“[Simon] brings to us a wealth of experience both of the City and the business world but also of high level policing and in particular of economic crime,” said Alderman.