Rise in counsel spending but ‘stable’ vacancy rate at SFO

The Serious Fraud Office spent an additional £1.25 million on counsel – a 17% increase – compared with last year, while bringing in £2.89m in proceeds of crime, its latest annual report reveals.

In the report, for the year to 31 March 2026, interim director Graham McNulty thanked his predecessor Nick Ephgrave ‘for nearly 40 years of public service’. Ephgrave joined the SFO in 2023 succeeding Lisa Osofksy but retired from the role halfway through his five-year tenure.

McNulty said: ‘[Ephgrave’s] tenure as director laid a strong legacy for a bolder, stronger, and more confident SFO, including our move to new premises in Canary Wharf at the end of 2026. As interim director, I am focused on continuing this work to drive delivery, strengthen disclosure, and accelerate innovation, including the responsible use of AI.'

The SFO’s gross spending totalled £88.55m with staff costs making up almost half of that. Counsel fees totalled £8.87m  in 2025/26, up from £7.6m in 2024/25. ‘Other’ investigation costs fell to £10.94m in 2025/26 from £15.5m the year before.

The organisation's vacancy rate (14.33%) was described as ‘stable’ after a ‘targeted approach to recuritment’. In 2024/25 the vacancy rate was 13.1%.

The annual report notes the SFO’s new case management system as a first for the organisation which ‘has stringent requirements and has been carefully designed to handle the scale and complexity of [the SFO’s work]. The system will be fully rolled out to case teams, the report said, in 2026/27. ‘Exploring new opportunities such as the deployment of a general-purpose AI tool for non-operational use and pilots of potential operational AI use-cases’ will also continue.

In 2025/26 the average length of investigations was four years and three months, the same as the previous year. 

Around 1,500 referrals were made to the SFO’s intelligence division. During the same period, 335 whistleblowing disclosures were ‘managed’ with the SFO ‘taking action’ – though it is not clear in the report what that entails – in 333 (99.40%) of disclosures received.

The SFO currently has around 120 active caseloads which span criminal, civil, proceeds of crime and international assistance cases.