A confidential out-of-court settlement has concluded the civil proceedings between Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited (ENRC), the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), law firm Dechert LLP and David Neil Gerrard, the SFO said in a press release dated 2 September 2026. The terms were not disclosed.

The SFO investigated the Kazakh mining company between 2013 and 2023 over suspected bribery and corruption linked to mining assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. The investigation ended without charges because of insufficient admissible evidence. ENRC brought a civil claim against its former lawyers in 2017 and against the SFO in 2019. According to the release, the court found the SFO in breach of its duties, including engaging with and taking unauthorised information between 2011 and 2013, and found that but for this conduct the investigation would not have opened.

Matthew Wagstaff, Director of Legal Services at the SFO, said the office was confident its wrongdoing between 2011 and 2013 could never happen again, describing it as a fundamentally different organisation with overhauled operations, stronger governance, independent oversight and clearer safeguards. The release also noted that SFO budget and expenditure details are published in its annual report and accounts.