The Corporate Investigations, Compliance and Defence team is a multi-disciplinary team of specialized lawyers and tax advisers which engages the appropriate knowhow and experience within our firm in areas such as compliance, tax law, labour law, privacy and data protection, criminal law, anti-trust, financial regulatory laws and litigation. Besides the specialized lawyers and tax advisers we have dedicated forensic investigators in our team who advise on and perform investigations into possible irregularities, e-discovery, asset tracing and (third party) due diligence.
Our services include inter alia compliance related and pro-active advice, conducting (internal forensic) investigations, negotiations with and/or proceedings against (international) authorities and liable parties, including seizures and recovery of damages.
We have extensive experience in advising and assisting clients regarding:
Corporate Criminal Defence
- Conducting internal investigations into irregularities concerning for instance fraud, bribery/corruption, forgery or money laundering (e.g. as a result of a whistleblower report or concerns raised by the (external) auditor)
- Advising corporate clients (companies and (senior) management) on various corporate criminal law topics, such as criminal liability of companies and (senior) management under Dutch law
- Representing/defending corporate clients in criminal proceedings regarding suspicions of money laundering, bribery/corruption, tax fraud, investment fraud, accounting fraud, environmental crimes, workplace accidents, violations of financial supervision laws and regulations and others
- Representing corporate clients in negotiations with the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) and assisting clients during raids/visits by investigative authorities (e.g. FIOD)
- Advising corporate clients with regard to confiscation proceedings
- Advising and representing corporate clients that have become victim of fraud or other (white collar) crimes
- Assisting corporate clients with the implementation of compliance measures (e.g. anti-corruption and anti-money laundering)
- Advising on the topic cybersecurity
Criminal Defence
- Negotiations, proceedings against and raids/visits by:
- international regulators: Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Department of Justice (DoJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- in the Netherlands: the Public Prosecutors Office/police/FIOD, the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM), the Dutch Central Bank/De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM) (former NMA), Labour Inspectorate and SZW Inspectorate
- in Belgium: the Public Prosecutors Office and police, the Autoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten (FSMA), the National Bank of Belgium/Banque Nationale/Nationale Bank and the Raad voor de Mededinging/Conseil de la Concurrence
- in Luxembourg: the Public Prosecutors Office and police, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the National Bank of Luxemburg/Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL), the Conseil de la Concurrence/the Inspection de la Concurrence
- Dutch, Belgium and Luxembourg tax/customs authorities
- criminal proceedings regarding suspicion of tax fraud, violations of financial supervision laws and regulations, investment fraud, bankruptcy fraud, bribery of officials, corruption, environmental crimes and others
- extradition and surrender proceedings
- confiscation proceedings
Compliance & Regulatory
- advising on compliance issues such as anti-trust laws and regulations and anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations, amongst others the FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), the UK Bribery Act 2010 and the WWFT (Prevention of Money laundering and the Financing of Terrorism), trade restrictions, tax compliance and environmental legislation
- reviewing existing compliance programs
- implementation of whistle-blower policies
- privacy issues
- training of directors and supervisory directors regarding compliance issues
Corporate Investigations
In case of a corporate investigation, you need sound legal advice to help achieve the best possible outcome. Benefit from our extensive experience in helping clients with issues relating to fraud, bribery and corruption, regulation, export controls and sanctions, tax issues, anti-trust violations, employment issues, privacy issues, cyber security and due diligence.
Asset Recovery
If your organisation is in the process of tracing, freezing or recovery of assets in the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), Switzerland or elsewhere, our team can offer specialised advice. Our clients count on us to handle litigation to reclaim incurred damages, as well as to advise injured parties during criminal proceedings.
