Day: June 4, 2018

The Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC MP, has today (4 June) announced that Lisa Osofsky has been appointed as the new Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Lisa Osofsky brings a wealth of experience to the role, with over 30 years’ experience of focussing on financial crime in both the UK and US. Lisa began her career as a federal prosecutor pursuing white collar crime ranging from benefit, defence contractor and bank fraud to corruption, money laundering and drug conspiracy. In total she has prosecuted over 100 cases on behalf of the US Government.

Lisa’s career spans public and private sectors, including 5 years as Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer at the FBI, three years as Money Laundering Reporting Officer at Goldman Sachs International and seven years in the Corporate Investigation Division of Control Risks, where she advised on risk and compliance issues. Ms Osofsky will join the SFO from global firm Exiger’s London office, where she has led the firm’s investigative, compliance and assurance activities; these include assessing the money laundering and sanctions programmes of global financial institutions under orders imposed by prosecutors and regulators.

Her tenure will begin on 3rd September for a renewable term of 5 years. Lisa Osofsky will take over from Mark Thompson who was appointed as the Interim Director at the end of April. Mark will return to his role as Chief Operating Officer at the SFO.

Lisa Osofsky was appointed by the Attorney General after a rigorous and open competition, overseen by a Civil Service Commissioner.

Lisa will lead the SFO at an exciting time as the SFO works as part of a collective effort with its partners in the National Economic Crime Centre to tackle economic crime which is a priority for the Government. The SFO is in a strong position having recently secured five convictions for rate rigging offences relating to LIBOR and its first conviction after trial of a corporate entity for offences involving bribery of foreign officials. It has also obtained a number of high profile Deferred Prosecution Agreements, most notably in relation to Rolls Royce.

Commenting on the appointment, the Attorney General said:

I am delighted to announce that Lisa Osofsky will be the next Director of the SFO. Economic crime, at all levels, is a growing and changing threat and tackling it is a priority for the Government.

The SFO will continue to undertake crucial work to investigate and prosecute serious and complex economic crime, as an independent body that works closely and collaboratively with other UK and international authorities to best protect the public.

I have no doubt Lisa is the exceptional candidate we were looking for to lead the SFO at such a critical time. It is clear that economic crime is committed across national boundaries and Lisa’s experience of working at an international level will enhance the SFOs capabilities in this area.

Commenting on her appointment, Lisa Osofsky said:

I am honoured to be the next Director of the Serious Fraud Office. I look forward to building on the SFO’s successful record in the fight against economic crime and leading an emboldened SFO to even greater heights.

As set out in the Criminal Justice Act 1987, the Attorney General appoints the DSFO.

David Green’s term as DSFO ended on 20 April. This followed a 4 year contract that was extended for 2 years.

In April 2018, Mark Thompson was appointed as the Interim Director of the SFO. He will continue in this role until Lisa joins the SFO later this year.

Lisa Osofsky Biography:

Lisa Kate Osofsky will become the Director of the Serious Fraud Office on 3rd September 2018. In this role, she will be responsible for all investigations and prosecutions for some of the UK’s most serious and complex fraud and bribery. A UK Barrister, US Lawyer and the former Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer of the FBI, Ms. Osofsky brings a distinguished career in both the public and private sector to the SFO.
Lisa Kate Osofsky serves as EMEA Regional Chair based in Exiger’s London office, where she focuses on financial crime and anti-bribery compliance, as well as the firm’s investigative operations.

Ms. Osofsky was previously the regulatory advisor at Control Risks. Before Control Risks she was the Executive Director of the Business Intelligence Group and the Money Laundering Reporting Officer at Goldman Sachs International, London. There, she advised GSI’s senior management, bankers and compliance officers on legal matters relating to money laundering, fraud and regulatory risk.

Preceding her time with Goldman Sachs, Ms. Osofsky was the Deputy General Counsel and Ethics Officer for the FBI. While there she managed white collar crime cases and investigations, focussing on operations, legislation and intelligence matters throughout the organisation.

Ms. Osofsky was also a Special Attorney in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice and stationed at the Serious Fraud Office in London. Ms. Osofsky began her career in Chicago as a law clerk to federal judge James B. Moran; she then served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting federal crimes ranging from financial, bank, defence and government contract fraud to public corruption and bribery. Before becoming DGC of the FBI, Ms. Osofsky served in DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, where she assisted with extradition and mutual legal assistance matters.

Education:

Ms. Osofsky received her Bachelor of Arts, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from Amherst College, and holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Pupil, 9-12 Bell Yard, London; qualified to practise as barrister in courts of England and Wales; Member of Middle Temple Inn of Court.

Affiliations, Awards and Civic Engagements:

Harvard Law School Leadership Council

Recipient of the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Investigative and Trial Work

Bar Memberships:

Supreme Court of the United States; American Bar Association (ABA); International Bar Association; Trial Bar, Northern District of Illinois; Illinois State Bar; Bar of Northern District of Illinois; Bar of Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals; Bar of State of Maryland.

Dual UK-US Citizen

With an estimated 3 million middle-aged adults physically inactive across the country,[1],[2] Public Health England (PHE) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) are encouraging adults to incorporate brisk walking into their days as a way to improve their general health and wellbeing.

As part of the push to get adults doing more moderate intensity physical activity each day, health experts are encouraging people to increase the intensity of their walking, rather than just focus on the distance or number of steps.

Moderate intensity physical activity means getting the heart rate up and breathing faster. Just 10 minutes of brisk walking a day is an easy way for adults to introduce more moderate intensity physical activity into their day and reduce their risk of early death by up to 15%.[3]

To help adults do this, PHE’s ‘Active 10’ app has been created and it is the only app of its kind that combines intensity and time, rather than just distance.

Taking a 10 minute brisk walk each day can help build up towards the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) recommendation of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. This has been linked to health benefits including a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

A new survey by PHE looking at people’s perceptions of physical activity found that:[4]

• many adults struggle to fit in exercise. Not having enough time (31%) was the main reason cited, followed by not feeling motivated (27%) and being too tired (25%)
• half of these adults (50%) think more than 240 minutes of exercise per week is required to see general health benefits, nearly double the recommended guidance of at least 150 minutes – and 1 in 7 (15%) think that more than 420 minutes per week is required (an hour per day)
• nearly nine in 10 (87%) say they walk more than 10 minutes per day, however, this drops to just over half (54%) who say they walk briskly for this amount of time

The current physical inactivity crisis also has a societal impact. In adults, physical inactivity contributes to1 in 6 deaths in the UK[5] and costs the NHS over £0.5 billion per year.[6]

Professor Paul Cosford, Medical Director at PHE, said:

Managing all the pressures of everyday life can mean that exercise takes a back seat, but building a brisk walk into your daily routine is a simple way to get more active.

The Active 10 app gives you a clear picture of the intensity of your walk. Taking a brisk 10 minute walk each day will get your heart pumping, improve your mood and lower the risk of serious health issues like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Professor Sir Muir Gray, Clinical Adviser for the Active 10 app and One You campaign, said:

The additional health benefits that can be achieved by walking at a brisk pace for periods of 10 minutes or more – as opposed to totting up a certain number of steps throughout the day – are undeniable.

I’d advise anyone of any age and activity level to start to fit in at least one 10 minute brisk walk a day as a simple way to get more active, especially those who may be taking medication for a long term health condition – you will receive even more benefits from walking briskly for 10 minutes or more a day.

Dr Zoe Williams, GP and RCGP Clinical Champion for Physical Activity and Lifestyle, said:

GPs want their patients to be healthy and enjoy life, and there are simple ways in which we can all improve our health. I often encourage my patients to take up more daily physical activity, which can start with just a 10 minute brisk walk – it would be great to see more people doing this across the country.

Moving more is an important step forward to improving the health of the nation and looking after our NHS, which is often overburdened by lifestyle related illness.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said:

Small, often simple, lifestyle changes can have a really positive impact on our health and wellbeing, so anything that encourages patients to live better, and move more is a good thing. There has been a substantial rise in the number of patients who have developed multiple, long-term conditions in recent years, and many of these, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease, are linked to not being active enough.

While GPs and our teams will always encourage patients to make lifestyle changes that could potentially benefit their long-term health and wellbeing, the responsibility cannot solely lie with healthcare professionals, and patients must also play their part. The RCGP is really pleased to have endorsed the Active 10 app, which empowers patients to make basic lifestyle changes around diet and exercise, such as taking a brisk walk for 10 minutes a day and suggests ways for patients to easily incorporate these into their lives.

Already 600,000 people have downloaded the ‘Active 10’ app. In a single month, approximately 2 million ‘Active 10s’ (10-minute brisk walks) were completed by Active 10 users.

‘Active 10’ is supported by the RCGP and was developed by PHE in collaboration with The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine.

Join the 600,000 people who have downloaded ‘Active 10’ and make the first step towards a healthier you. Search ‘Active 10’ to download the app for free.

Background

1. ONS Mid year Population estimates, mid-2016
2. Public Health England, Active Lives, 2016 to 2017
3. 10 minutes brisk walking each day in mid-life for health benefits and towards achieving physical activity recommendations.
4. YouGov surveyed 3007 adults in England aged 40 to 60. Fieldwork was undertaken online between 10 and 16 May 2018. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all English adults (aged 40 to 60).
5. Lee I-M, and others. (2012) Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. The Lancet 380: 219 to 229.
6. PHE, Physical inactivity: economic costs to NHS clinical commissioning groups, 2016.
7. Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. We do this through world-leading science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and providing specialist public health services. We are an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, and a distinct organisation with operational autonomy. We provide government, local government, the NHS, Parliament, industry and the public with evidence-based professional, scientific expertise and support. Follow us on Twitter: @PHE_uk and Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicHealthEngland.

Reducing the risk to the public and preventing safe spaces for terrorists to operate are at the heart of an updated counter-terrorism strategy launched by the Home Secretary today.

The threat from terrorism is shifting and evolving in the UK and globally. A marked shift was demonstrated by the appalling attacks in London and Manchester in 2017 which cost the lives of 36 innocent people and changed the lives of many more.

It prompted a fundamental review of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy – CONTEST – to respond to the scale of the threat and the speed with which plots are now developing.

The result is a new, more agile, flexible and co-ordinated approach designed to better prevent, detect and disrupt terrorist attacks, and where attacks get through, to limit the impact and recover swiftly.

Central to the new strategy is working in partnership at international, national and local level, between government, agencies, the private sector and communities.

Delivering his first keynote speech on security to an audience of community leaders, academics and counter-terrorism experts, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

As Home Secretary my priority will always be to keep our country safe. The threat from terrorism is one of the starkest we face and it is clear there has been a step change.

The biggest threat is from Islamist terrorism particularly from Daesh, but extreme right-wing terrorism is also an increasing threat. Both exploit grievances, distort the truth, and undermine the values that hold us together.

As the threat evolves so must our response. Ultimately, our approach is about ensuring that there are no safe spaces for terrorists to operate – internationally, in the UK or online.

Our greatest strength lies not only in what we do but who we are and the values and freedoms we hold dear. That is why everyone has a part to play in confronting terrorism. I want to say to all those who stand up against all forms of extremism that this government stands with you. I stand with you. But there is more for us all to do.

The counter-terrorism strategy will be underpinned by new legislation to enable the police and security services to disrupt terrorist threats earlier. This legislation will:

• amend existing terrorism offences to update them for the digital age and to reflect contemporary patterns of radicalisation and to close gaps in their scope, including making it an offence to repeatedly view streamed video content online
• strengthen the sentencing framework for terrorism, including by increasing the maximum penalty for certain offences, to ensure that the punishment properly reflects the crime and to better prevent re-offending
• enable further terrorism offences committed overseas to be prosecuted in the UK courts

Responding to the recommendations of MI5 and the counter-terrorism police’s Operational Improvement Review into the 2017 terrorist attacks, which was overseen by David Anderson, new multi-agency approaches – initially in London, Manchester and the West Midlands – involve MI5 and the police using and sharing information more widely, working with partners such as local authorities to improve our understanding of those at risk of involvement in terrorism and enable a wider range of interventions.

Through Prevent, the government, local authorities, police and communities will continue to safeguard and support vulnerable people from the risk of being drawn into terrorism, working with a wide network of partners to prevent radicalisation and build resilience.

Work to enable those who have already engaged in terrorism to withdraw and rehabilitate will be further developed, including through the expansion of the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, a new element of Prevent.

The government will work more closely with the private sector on a range of issues including protecting our economic and physical infrastructure, gaining faster alerts to suspicious purchases, continuing to make it difficult for terrorists to use the internet for propaganda and ensuring we have critical access to communications.

Just as terrorists seek to exploit technology, the government will harness developments in technology including machine learning and quantum computing which have the potential to dramatically change and enhance counter-terror operational capabilities.

The Home Secretary also reaffirmed his commitment to the UK’s leading role internationally in tackling terrorism – committing to the Global Coalition’s campaign against Daesh and focusing specifically on raising global aviation security standards and preventing terrorist use of the internet.

The Home Secretary will be travelling to the west coast of the United States on Friday 8 June to attend the next meeting of the Global Internet Forum on tackling counter-terrorism.