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Kennedys’ global White Collar Crime and Investigations team based across the UK and EMEA, Asia Pacific, North America and Latin America, is made up of specialist lawyers who regularly advise clients on all aspects of financial crime. Our lawyers not only understand the law and techniques to get to the heart of the matter, but will assist you when navigating through the complex web of criminal and regulatory issues.
Our team of highly skilled lawyers on the ground around the world also handle all aspects of D&O exposure for directors and officers and their insurers. We are familiar with D&O coverage/policies and mindful to the potential for conflicts between various parties, time demands on management and the reputational impact for the individual and their business.
We tackle the most complex white collar crime issues, often spanning multiple jurisdictions, for both corporates and individuals, in what is becoming an increasingly vigorous enforcement landscape across the globe.
Our services include:
- Financial crime - Our experienced team advise across all areas of financial crime (including bribery and corruption, money laundering, fraud, proceeds of crime, tax and account irregularities, and breaches of international sanctions) and their associated implications for businesses and individuals.
- Internal investigations - We conduct internal investigations on a national and international scale. We act quickly to identify the issues and put in place an effective strategy to minimise disruption as well as reputational and commercial damage.
- Enforcement/regulatory authorities - We advise clients on their interactions with, and reporting to, a range of law enforcement bodies across the globe, including the Police, SFO, FCA, CPS, HMRC, NCA, and other enforcement/regulatory authorities.
- External investigations - We defend external investigations, prosecutions and other enforcement action.
- Compliance and risk - We provide corporate compliance and risk mitigation advice and guidance, including developing bespoke effective controls.
Get in touch with a member of our White Collar Crime and Investigations team
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Our work highlights from around the world
- Supporting a high-profile director in an ongoing, multi-faceted SFO prosecution into a series of collapsed companies.
- Assisting a former CEO of a large insurer in connection with the SFO’s longstanding multi-jurisdictional investigation into bribery and corruption in the insurance sector.
- Acting for a global construction firm under investigation by the SFO over suspected bribery payments linked to a construction project.
- Providing sanctions advice to an insurance company on UK sanctions matters, including preparing a report to OFSI and the FCA regarding a suspected designated person, a suspected breach, and frozen assets.
- Representing a high-net worth client subject to an unexplained wealth investigation.
- Acting in the first contested prosecution of a corporate for failure to prevent bribery under s.7 of the Bribery Act (R v Skansen Interiors Limited).
- Supporting a UK corporate during a large-scale HMRC money laundering investigation affecting each of its UK branches.
- Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of a global construction company into allegations of fraud.
- Assisting a high-net worth client in relation to a private investigation into two public officials of Guinea.
- Conducting an internal investigation for an ultra-high net worth individual into entities suspected of criminal conduct, including potential fraud, bribery, corruption, and breaches of sanctions regulations.
- Conducting an internal investigation for an online trading and wealth management company into the alleged misappropriation of cryptocurrency and fiat funds by a third party, including identifying any internal irregularities and whether the activity was facilitated or enabled by employees.
- Defending officers of local government in investigations by the Corruption and Crime Commission in Australia.
- Defending a CEO of a local government in respect of a prosecution concerning alleged acts of corruption. The defendant was found not guilty.
- Defending a CEO of a piggery in relation to a breach of the Biosecurity Act in Australia.
- Acting for a former CEO of a piggery in relation to alleged breaches of the Environmental Protection act 1986 (WA).
- Advising financial institutions and individuals in Hong Kong in complex commercial litigation involving allegations of fraud and conspiracy to defraud, as well as related Commercial Crime Bureau and Independent Commission Against Corruption investigations.
- Advising Hong Kong Main Board listed companies, international financial institutions and high-profile individuals on investigations and prosecutions by Commercial Crime Bureau and Independent Commission Against Corruption in relation to allegations of fraud, bribery and/or money laundering.
- Advising international and local financial institutions in Hong Kong on the reporting of suspicious transactions under relevant anti-money laundering legislation.
- Acting for a Singapore listed company in respect of a fraud perpetuated by an ex-employee on a number of banks and financial institutions.
- Acting for a South African bank in proceedings in Singapore pertaining to a fraud perpetrated by a former employee and others.
- Acted for a South African bank in proceedings in Singapore pertaining to criminal proceeds in Singapore flowing from a fraud perpetrated by a former employee and others.
- Advising a reinsurer on a case of disloyal administration against the board of a mayor diary producer company in Latin America.
- Defending the President of the Board of a Corporation, in an investigation for breaching sectorial regulator in Latin America.
- Advising and defending of D&O both at the Antitrust Authority and The National Economic Prosecutor.
- Advice to reinsurers and insurers on coverage of D&O Policies across Latin America.
- In the United States, we have the ability to represent corporate clients and their executives with regulatory enforcement actions, grand jury investigations, internal investigations, compliance counselling and criminal prosecutions.
- Our United States attorneys leverage decades of prosecutorial, regulatory defence and litigation experience to guide our clients through all phases of criminal and governmental inquiries.
- Advising insurance and non-insurance clients in the development and/or updating of their crime prevention model, including the review and update of their AML, Antitrust, and anti-bribery and corruption policies and their risk matrix.
- Advising insurance and non-insurance clients on the effect on corporate governance and liability for companies, and its directors and officers, following the enactment of the Economic Crimes Act in Chile.
