Citywire.co.uk – The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is to probe UK banks for evidence that complex financial products were mis-sold to consumers before the recession hit.
SFO director Richard Alderman plans to investigate the sale of complicated financial instruments like credit default swaps and collateralised debt obligations. The SFO has changed its tactics and will take a more active tack with investigations and will intervene to prevent future frauds, according to a report in The Times.
SFO staff are already investigating Madoff’s UK operations, hedge funds accused of over valuing securities, AIG UK and the collapse of Weavering Capital, according to The Times. The government has also asked its fraud taskforce to examine the collapse of MG Rover in 2005. And the workload is set to grow with the decision to look into the Keydata saga, as reported by Citywire this week.
