Serious Fraud Office

The complainant requested information obtained by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) during its criminal investigation into Airbus SE (Airbus) that resulted in a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) in January 2020. The SFO confirmed it holds information, but refused to provide it, citing sections 30(1)(b)(c) (investigations and proceedings), 31(1)(a)(b)(c) (law enforcement), 40(2) (personal information) and 27(1)(a) (international relations) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 27(1)(a) is engaged in respect of all the requested information, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.