“They have a very clear understanding of differences in systems of law. They’re great at adjusting their strategy for local contexts and environments.”

Chambers UK

The investigation of crime is increasingly international. We represent clients based inside or outside the UK who may be subject to investigation overseas, or who are subject to investigation in the UK alongside parallel investigations in other jurisdictions. An investigation in one country may trigger investigations elsewhere, either because the alleged criminality is multi-jurisdictional or because assets potentially deriving from the alleged misconduct are held in multiple jurisdictions.

We have represented clients facing investigations in the United States (Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)), France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, India, Greece, Denmark, the Russian Federation, Romania, Ukraine, the Caribbean, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Liechtenstein.

We secure the best possible outcomes for our clients, often resulting in the resolution of investigations without prosecution and with minimal impact on our client’s personal and professional life.

Our expertise

Our team of specialist and skilled lawyers will provide an empathetic and supportive environment while working tirelessly for you to prepare your most effective response to all aspects of a cross-border investigation. Where necessary, we build a team of similarly expert lawyers in other jurisdictions. This is to ensure that you receive country-specific advice to protect your interests in each jurisdiction and to ensure strategic co-ordination so that an informed and consistent approach is adopted towards all the investigating agencies involved.

We provide beginning to end representation to guide you through the course of a cross-border investigation. Working together with lawyers in other relevant jurisdictions, we will put in place a global strategy which also takes into consideration other factors such as the risk of Interpol red notices, extradition, asset forfeiture and restraint, any parallel civil proceedings, and the transfer of evidential material across borders under informal information sharing agreements or international mutual legal assistance (MLA) regimes.

BCL’s expertise in acting in cross-border matters is widely recognised; we author the “Individuals in Cross-Border Investigations or Proceedings: The UK Perspective” chapter in the Global Investigations Review (GIR) Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations.

Our experience

Examples of our cross-border instructions include:

• Successful challenge to a search warrant executed against a UK-based corporate entity pursuant to an MLA request received from the US authorities, and thereafter challenging further action taken by the UK police pursuant to additional requests for assistance from the US authorities in relation to documents and evidence.
• Advising and representing an English barrister in criminal proceedings in Trinidad in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption arising from the suspected payment of kickbacks to the former Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago.
• Successful resolution of criminal investigations (and parallel civil proceedings) in a number of jurisdictions arising out of the alleged failure by individual trustees to comply with domestic court orders made in the context of the UK’s second largest divorce award; the assets in question, the trusts, and the individual trustees were outside of the UK giving rise to complex arguments concerning the jurisdictional limits of UK court orders.
• Acting for a UK-based former senior executive of a European bank in money laundering investigation conducted by the US and Danish authorities (SOIK) arising from activity through the bank’s Baltic operations.
• Acting for a Swiss based trustee in connection with a US investigation into suspected tax fraud potentially involving trust assets; co-ordinating with Swiss, US and other UK lawyers in relation to ensuring compliance with UK Proceeds of Crime Act regime.
• Acting for UK-based former senior banker facing fraud allegations in Russia and connected money laundering investigations in Switzerland and France; co-ordinating their response to these investigations, asset freezes and associated issues (including Interpol, the risk of extradition and potential civil proceedings) in additional jurisdictions including the UK, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Estonia and Cyprus

What the directories say about us for this area: