The acquittal of the former Barclays executives was a major setback for the Serious Fraud Office over its failure to secure high-profile convictions. Peter FitzGerald said the verdict was embarrassing for the SFO. “Their entire approach was flawed from the start” he said. “We got the impression that they approached the case with the assumption that something criminal had occurred and they interpreted everything in that light.” Peter acknowledged the huge pressure the SFO was under to bring charges after its long and expensive investigation, but claimed that this did not justify ploughing on with the prosecution.  Read more