Managing Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Management Philip Fong comments in The Edge Singapore article titled 'Are deferred prosecution agreements the future of dealing with errant companies?'

Eversheds Harry Elias Managing Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Management Philip Fong was quoted in The Edge Singapore article, titled 'Are deferred prosecution agreements the future of dealing with errant companies?'. The article was first published in the print version of The Edge Singapore January 22, 2018 edition.

Are deferred prosecution agreements the future of dealing with errant companies?

The article starts off referring to Keppel Corp's involvement in the massive bribery scandal, highlighing the oddity in Singapore's legal system. The focus of the article is Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam's consideration of introducing the DPA framework in Singapore, the benefits of doing so and whether they would be effective. 

Philip Fong, managing partner at Eversheds Harry Elias, points out that DPAs also enable prosecutors to impose certain conditions on errant companies on top of making them cough up huge fines. For example, the defendant company could also be ordered to compensate victims who suffered financial loss. Or, it can be made to insitute a more robust compliance framework . "DPAs thus can advance the public interest significantly by ensuring that corporate offences are dealt with in the most appropriate manner, and not necessarily by imposing hefty monetary sanctions,' says Fong.

DPAs are not an easy way out for errant companies either, says Fong of Eversheds Harry Elias. A defendant company will first have to convince the Attorney- General's Chambers that it should be allowed to enter into DPA rather than be prosecuted. "Furthermore, even if the AGC agrees to a DPA, the DPA must be approved by the High Court before it takes effect. Based on the information available, it does not appear that the DPA provides amnesty for individuals or that [entering into] a DPA will automatically absolve individual offenders from any prosecution," Fong says. 

Full article can be found in the print publication of The Edge Singapore, Jan 22, 2018 edition.

Author: The Edge Singapore