The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has appointed a leading criminal barrister and fraud specialist to the new post of general counsel.

Vivian Robinson, QC, a tenant at QEB Hollis Whiteman Chambers, has been involved in several notable cases including the Blue Arrow and Guinness/Distillers trials. More recently he represented a defendant in the Hatfield rail crash proceedings.

He has also prosecuted cases on behalf of the SFO.

Richard Alderman, director of the fraud watchdog, said: “That someone of Mr Robinson’s experience and quality wants to join the SFO is a testament to the high regard in which the SFO is held."

Creating the post of general counsel was one of several recommendations that were made in a recent report on the SFO conducted by Jessica De Grazia, a former New York prosecutor.

The general counsel will sit on the SFO's board and be responsible for maintaining standards at the agency.

Mr Robinson will formally take up his post in the spring but will begin working with the agency in the coming weeks.

He was called to the Bar in 1967 and appointed Queens Counsel and Crown Court Recorder in 1986.

Mr Robinson has been a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners since 1976 and is currently Treasurer of the Inner Temple.

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