The criminal team defends major prosecutions by the principal prosecution agencies (including the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the National Crime Agency, the CMA, HMRC and specialist departments of the Crown Prosecution Service). Work covers all aspects of serious fraud allegations, money laundering issues, bribery and corruption, market abuse investigations, stock exchange inquiries, tax investigations, sanctions and export control issues and investigations pursued by competition authorities. Many cases involve international investigations and prosecutions involving authorities such as the DOJ and SEC in the US and the PNF, Bafin and other federal agencies in Europe. The team also has lots of experience in mutual legal assistance matters and extradition. The firm has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial and trade sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries, including Russia, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria. Our most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services (Jersey), including challenging the ‘designated’ status of a number of high-profile Russian citizens, and advising various Russian companies in a range of industry sectors on potential exposures arising from the evolving EU, US and UK sanctions regime.
