Business Crime

Fraud, Financial Services and Business Crime & Compliance

Our barristers have established national and international reputations for their expertise, experience and confidence in Fraud, Financial Services and Business Crime and Compliance – they are consistently ranked as leaders in the field.

We advise and represent individuals and entities in relation to financial, regulatory, and fraud investigations in the UK, and overseas.

Our clients include financial institutions and corporations, as well as:

• politicians
• entrepreneurs
• company directors and chief executives
• chartered accountants
• lawyers
• IFAs and medical and other professionals

We therefore have accumulated experience dealing with the Financial Conduct Authority, Serious Fraud Office, National Crime Agency, HMRC, National Trading Standards, FACT, as well as other investigating and prosecuting bodies.

International Business Crime

Many of our cases have an international dimension and we are accordingly experienced dealing with overseas authorities including the US Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and EU, Indian and Australian authorities. Practitioners specialise in trans-jurisdictional terrorist financing, proscribed wildlife trading, and export control violations.

Members of our team have previously worked in the banking and commercial sectors and within their regulatory regimes. Others have had advisory and disciplinary roles regulating the accounting (FRC, ACCA, CIMA) and medical (GMC) sectors.  Some of us prosecute for these agencies as well as defending, and advise on and conduct internal investigations, or act as disclosure counsel. We understand how regulators and prosecution authorities work.

Practitioners lecture and advise on corporate responsibility for human rights.

We are often involved in an advisory role at the start of regulatory or criminal investigations. Our experience, attention to detail and dedication to our clients assists them in responding appropriately with the object of avoiding prosecution. When proceedings are commenced, we work to ensure that our clients receive the best advice and representation and, most importantly, a fair hearing.

Business Crime Conduct

Our work covers a wide range of conduct, recently including:

• Bribery and corruption, including European government officials
• Cartel Offending
• Commercial property fraud
• Corporate compliance with human rights obligations
• Environmental protection, including carbon credit and land fraud, wildlife trading and international illegal logging
• EU, National and Devolved Government grant scheme frauds
• Export Control violations
• Fraud and cheating in the sports sector (cricket, rugby, horse-racing)
• Fraudulent trading
• Insider trading, market manipulation and abuse
• Insolvency and bankruptcy offending
• Intellectual property theft
• Investment (boiler-room) fraud and Ponzi mis-selling
• Money laundering, restraint, confiscation and asset forfeiture
• Pension mis-selling and liberation frauds
• Professional discipline
• Tax Evasion
  • SPV’s inc. film and insurance schemes
  • MTIC & carousel fraud
  • PAYE, payroll and C.I.S. frauds
  • Duty diversions
• Terrorist financing
• Trading Standards prosecutions in clothing, energy switching and ticketing sectors
• Web-site ghosting and internet advance-fee frauds
• Whistle-blowing and deferred prosecution agreements

We advise and represent well-known corporate clients and individuals in sensitive situations with discretion as well as vigour.

Please call our Clerking team on 020 7036 0200 to discuss any particular requirements you may have.