Charity Commission warns charities about fraud prevention

The Charity Commission has issued a warning reminder to large, incorporated charities about changes to the law on preventing fraud. A new failure to prevent fraud offence will come into force on 1 September 2025 for all large organisations, including charities.

Who does this apply to?

This new offence is introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and will affect large, incorporated charities that meet two of the following three criteria:

• More than 250 employees.
• More than £36m of income.
• More than £18m in total assets.

What is the change?

Where an employee, agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person”, commits fraud that intends to benefit the organisation (or its clients) and the organisation did not have reasonable fraud measures in place, the organisation may be criminally liable under the new law.

Guidance has been published on the new offence, which can be read here. This guidance has been published by the Home Office after consulting with the Scottish Government and Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.

If you would like any help with reviewing your approach to fraud prevention, please get in touch. We would be happy to help you!

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/failure-to-prevent-fraud-offence-regulatory-alert