A draft bill officially extending the scope of the ‘failure to prevent’ provision in white-collar crime is set to be introduced.

The criminal finance bill would make employers responsible for preventing money laundering, false accounting and fraud as well as tax evasion and bribery, and could see companies held responsible.

The Times newspaper reported that the government would be announcing a draft bill in due course.

It comes after the attorney general Jeremy Wright (pictured) suggested the government would consult on extending failure to prevent laws which are currently available only for failing to prevent bribery.

Speaking at the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime, Wright said that corporates and individuals should be held responsible when considering who should be held accountable.

‘When considering the question "Where does the buck stop?" and who is responsible for economic crime, it is clear the answer is to be found at every level, from the boardroom down,’ he said.