Serious Fraud Office requests 'urgent' £15.5m as part of £21m additional funding

The money forms part of a request for £21 million in additional funding that the SFO has made to the government to meet its financial needs for 2015/16. This is the fourth time it has requested additional funding for 'blockbuster' investigations in as many years, according to the Financial Times.

"The SFO continues to be underfunded in spite of protests to the contrary," said corporate crime expert Barry Vitou of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"An underfunded investigator into serious fraud is a false economy. It sends the wrong message, encourages fraudsters and risks the reputation of UK PLC as a good place to do business," he said.

The SFO is the UK body responsible for investigating and prosecuting the most serious cases of fraud, corruption and corporate crime. Its budget has fallen steadily since the 2008 financial crisis, although it is able to apply to the government for additional funding to cover the costs of particular high profile investigations on a case by case basis.

Criminal proceedings issued by the SFO against 11 individuals accused of manipulating the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) benchmark interest rate will progress to Westminster Magistrates' Court in the next few days. Former employees of Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Societe General are due to be charged with conspiracy to defraud at the court on 11 January 2016. The SFO's investigation into EURIBOR was instigated as a result of its broader LIBOR investigation, and further criminal proceedings are expected, according to its website.

Last month, the SFO successfully prosecuted Sweett Group, an international construction company, of an offence under section 7 of the 2010 Bribery Act, which criminalises failure to prevent bribery, in relation to its activities in the Middle East. The company will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 12 February. The SFO also agreed its first deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with ICBC Standard Bank towards the end of last year, also in relation to a section 7 offence.

Figures obtained by Pinsent Masons last year showed a sharp fall in the number of property raids conducted by the SFO, as well as a drop in the number of people prosecuted for fraud and corruption offences. At the time, Barry Vitou said that the figures suggested that budget cuts were having an impact on the effectiveness of the SFO's work.