OFT to keep its independence

The OFT, which regulates debt companies among other firms, will retain its powers of criminal prosecution rather than see them absorbed within the NCA, according to the Telegraph. The reversal is the latest in a series of changes to coalition plans to centralise crime-fighting agencies. Originally the plan, supported by Chancellor George Osborne, was to create a dedicated Economic Crime Agency taking in the OFT, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and parts of the FSA. In recent months control of the project has switched from the Treasury to the Home Office which now plans to create a m...