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Two High Court judges ruled that the decision was unlawful and made after blatant threats from the Saudis. The SFO has appealed the decision in the House of Lords.

Last week, the SFO suffered a serious blow after a judge threw out a price-fixing case against five drug companies, leaving an eight-year investigation that cost an estimated £25 million in tatters. Again, it is to seek leave to appeal that decision.

Neither case was under Mr Alderman’s stewardship and he declined to comment as both are pending before the courts.

But he said that it was clear that the SFO, which has a staff of 320 full-time lawyers and a budget of £43 million, needs a new role, which he insisted was "not to secure its future, but because it’s what society needs."

Mr Alderman, 55, who was a senior official at Revenue and Customs, Office, has put a "robust" timescale on the reforms and has brought in management consultants to advise on how they can be put into effect. He wants answers within a month.

His measures are causing a stir and there is a split of views among staff as to whether his vision is correct. Since he arrrived, the deputy director has been made redundant and four other senior managers have resigned.

A spokesman said: "The reasons were never articulated; it was a combination of retirement or wanting to move on."

Mr Alderman said that prosecutions would continue but would be more effective, swift and focussed — his plan to increase the number to about 100 a year from the present number of 65, he said.

But he said he was talking to lawyers and accountants about how to provide alternatives to prosecution — such as a pledge to delay a prosecution for a few years and only pursue it if it did not put its house in order.

He said that it was not about enabling fraudsters to "escape justice". He added: "It is not about cutting deals — it’s what the public interest requires.

"Under the American system, where you have a number of different ways of dealing with fraud, this is regarded as a very effective way ot doing justice."

He added: "We have had a few cases where boards of companies have approached us after taking over a group or a company and discovered fraud or corruption."

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