(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government made it easier for the Serious Fraud Office to pay for its biggest cases as the agency prosecutes Barclays Plc and investigates companies including GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Airbus SE.
The SFO will no longer have to apply for so-called blockbuster funding from the U.K. treasury for major cases, instead getting top-up funds should it spend more than 2.5 million pounds ($3.6 million) on a probe in a year, the agency said Thursday on its website.
“The SFO will not need to manage two separate funding streams, will be able to focus on substantially reducing reliance on temporary personnel and will be able to reallocate staff between cases as the work requires," the organization said.
The agency, tasked with investigating and prosecuting the most high-profile fraud and corruption cases, will get a budget of 53 million pounds for the 2018-19 fiscal year, compared with a provisional budget of 60 million pounds, according to Treasury data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in London at fwild@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser
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