Commercial fraud claims in England and Wales: analysing trends in 2025
June 26, 2025
Law firm Stewarts and analytics platform Solomonic have analysed data regarding commercial fraud claims in the civil courts of England and Wales.
This second ‘Analysing trends’ report reviews how the volume of claims, preferred courts and sector coverage have developed since the report’s first publication in 2023. The data shows the continued strength of fraud disputes in the English courts.
Key findings include:
- International appeal: The English courts remain attractive to and respected by foreign users, albeit there are challenges. Since 2020 a third of claimants and a fifth of defendants have been resident overseas.
- Preferred courts: The Commercial Court has lost its supremacy, with the general King’s Bench Division now being the most popular for issuing claims.
- Sectors: Banking and finance claims remain dominant.
- The future: A new UK offence of failing to prevent a fraud has been introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The offence is due to come into force in September 2025.
Commenting on the international appeal of the English courts, Giles Maynard-Connor KC, Head of Exchange Chambers’ Business and Property department said:
“This interesting and insightful report shows the continued strength of fraud disputes in the English courts.
“A number of factors contribute to the international appeal of the English courts – the expertise of practitioners in this area, the quality of the judiciary and the scope and effectiveness of the remedies available, not least worldwide freezing orders and search orders.”
Looking to the future, Giles says businesses need to be ready for the new Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence, which comes into force in September 2025.
He added:
“The new offence is likely to cause a significant change in the operation of large organisations as they can be made criminally liable for fraud committed by employees, agents or other third parties that benefit the organisation. The legislation necessitates organisations having robust fraud compliance programs in order to effectively thwart a broad spectrum of fraud offences.”
The full report can be viewed here.
