Business Crime and Regulatory

Out of hours emergency number: +44 (0) 20 3755 6009

Our business crime and regulatory team is recognised as one of the leading defence teams in the country.

Ian Ryan heads the team which is experienced, efficient and committed to achieving the best results for its clients. The team has an outstanding reputation for securing excellent results on behalf of their clients.

The team is praised by clients and peers for its outstanding success rate, its strategic and supportive thinking and advice, and its ability to charter a way through complex and difficult investigations, often involving parallel civil proceedings or an international element.

Although fundamentally specialising in business crime for corporates and individuals, the team has developed a specialism in representing high net worth individuals in both financial crime and criminal investigations.

Many of our cases are high profile and we frequently represent celebrities, politicians, high net worth individuals, athletes, journalists and corporates. We regularly work with the firm's media team to protect client reputations and preserve confidentiality. As a result, the vast majority of our cases are never reported in the press.

We also work closely with other departments including our highly experienced commercial litigation, employment and family law teams to ensure the best outcomes for our clients. The team is recognised by Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 and Ian Ryan is recognised as a leading individual in both directories.

Our expertise includes:

• Fraud and financial crime
• Bribery and corruption
• SFO investigations
• FCA Investigations
• Internal investigations
• Dawn raids, search and seizure
• Criminal defence and police station representations
• Professional discipline and regulatory investigations
• Money laundering
• Tax investigations
• Cyber Crime
• Trading standards
• Cartels
• Price fixing
• Restraint orders
• Sanctions
• Confiscation
• Cash forfeiture proceedings
• Mutual legal assistance
• Planning prosecutions

Notable recent work includes:

• Representing two directors involved in the SFO's investigation into the accounting practices at Tesco
• Representing a defendant charged by the SFO concerning alleged manipulation of the Euribor
• Representing a company director and the corporate in a large scale multi-jurisdictional investigation by the SFO into investment fraud.
• Conducting an internal investigation into misconduct within one of the UK's largest importers, and representing the company at a subsequent public enquiry
• Successfully defended Mark Hanna, the Head of Security of News UK, in the Rebekah Brooks so-called trial of the century at the Old Bailey
• Representing numerous individuals investigated as part of Operation Elveden.