David Green (Director of the SFO)

Sir David John Mark Green CB QC (born 8 March 1954) is a British lawyer and prosecutor, who served from 2012 until 2018 as the Director of the Serious Fraud Office.[1][2]

Sir David Green CB QC
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Director of the Serious Fraud Office
In office 2012 – April 2018
Minister	Dominic Grieve (until 2014), Jeremy Wright (since 2014)
Preceded by	Richard Alderman
Succeeded by	Lisa Osofsky
Personal details
Born	David John Mark Green 8 March 1954
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Occupation	Director of the Serious Fraud Office
Profession	Barrister
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath (2011)

Career

Career at the Bar

Educated at Christ's Hospital[3] and then St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, Green initially joined Defence Intelligence in 1975, leaving in 1978, being called to the Bar in 1979 and practising as a barrister. He has served as an assistant Recorder since 1996, and as a Recorder since 2000, when he was also appointed Queen's Counsel.[1][4][5]

RCPO

In 2004, Green was appointed a Director of Customs and Excise, during the creation of HM Revenue and Customs, leading the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). He served in that position until 2010, when RCPO started being merged into the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He stayed as head until 2011, as the CPS's Director of its Central Fraud Group,[6] being replaced by Sue Patten.[7]

Brief return to private practice

In April 2011, Green returned to private practise, joining 6 King's Bench Walk chambers.[8] Since his return to the Bar, he has been instructed in complex strategic export cases and as disclosure counsel in a substantial revenue fraud.[9]

SFO

In 2012, Green was appointed to succeed Richard Alderman as the Director of the Serious Fraud Office.[10][4][11][12] Appointing Green as Director of SFO, the Attorney General commented:

"I welcome David Green's appointment to this key post. He joins at a challenging and exciting time for the Serious Fraud Office. The government is committed to a better and more coordinated approach to economic crime and is putting the structures in place to effect this. The SFO will play an important role in this new strategy, working with Economic Crime Command partners and energetically pursuing the corruption and fraud which cause so much damage to victims, to law abiding competitors and to the UK's wider economy and reputation."

— Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC.

Green served his original four year term, and was extended for two years in February 2016.[13] Announcing extension of his appointment, The Attorney General commented:

"In his time as Director of the SFO David Green led a change in the organisation's approach to prosecuting cases and delivered the first UK Deferred Prosecution Agreement and the first convictions under the Bribery Act 2010. I look forward to working with him in the next phase of his leadership of the Serious Fraud Office."

— Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC.[13]

As of 2015, Green was paid a salary of between £170,000 and £174,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.[14]

Green left the SFO in April 2018, being replaced temporarily by the chief operating officer, Mark Thompson, and from September 2018 by Lisa Osofsky. On 22 October 2018, Green joined Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May as a Senior Consultant.[2]

Notable awards and rankings

In the Queen's Birthday Honours for 2011, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).[4][15] As part of the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2018, Green was made a Knight Bachelor.[16]

Positions held

See also

• Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)
• Criminal justice

References

1. A & C Black (2015). GREEN, David John Mark. Who's Who 2016 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
2. Goodley, Simon (5 June 2018). "SFO names ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Osofsky as new director". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
3. Bewick, A J G (2016). "London" (PDF). The Old Blue (Spring). Retrieved 20 October 2017.
4. "David Green CB QC appointed as next director of the Serious Fraud Office – IFSEC Global". IFSEC Global. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
5. HM Government (3 May 2000). "Crown Office". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
6. "David Green QC: Revenue & Customs Prosecution Office". 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
7. Crown Prosecution Service (27 June 2013). "2012–13" (PDF). Annual Report and Accounts. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
8. "David Green CB QC appointed new director of SFO". 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
9. "SFO names 6 King's Bench Walk silk as next director". 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
10. "David Green new director of Serious Fraud Office". 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
11. "David Green new director of Serious Fraud Office – Announcements". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
12. Parkinson, Kingsley Napley-Stephen. "David Green remains at helm of SFO | Lexology". Retrieved 10 March 2016.
13. "David Green CB QC, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, to have his contract extended by 2 years". 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
14. "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 – Government of the United Kingdom". Government of the United Kingdom. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
15. "No. 59808". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 10 June 2011. pp. 1–28.
16. HM Government (9 June 2018). "David GREEN". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2018.

External links

• An interview with Green in Fraud magazine from November 2013