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Unexplained Wealth Orders should be used more frequently

The signage on the outside of the building, for the SFO Serious Fraud Office on January 2025.
Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

UWOs are used to great effect in other countries, it’s time for the UK to make greater use of them, says Tony McClements.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has recently secured its first-ever Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) against the former wife of a solicitor jailed for defrauding investors in the Axiom Legal Financing Fund.

The SFO has quite rightly trumpeted this decision as a significant moment in the fight against UK financial