The scope and breadth of bribery and corruption laws, as well as the aggressive enforcement of those laws, pose a risk for businesses in every market.
The legal risks of bribery are significant: conviction for bribery offenses can result in huge fines and debarment. Individuals can also be imprisoned. In some jurisdictions, directors and senior executives can bear personal responsibility for employee conduct.
Our lawyers have extensive experience in advising companies like yours in response to concerns about bribery and corruption, including financial institutions, energy companies, manufacturing companies, TMT companies and engineering firms. We also have a strong track record in representing individual directors, senior officers and employees. If you have been a victim of bribery, corruption or fraud, we can help you prepare for civil and criminal actions.
This is a complex area of the law, but our experience and knowledge of the sector means we are well-placed to assist you. We understand the interaction between civil, criminal, regulatory and employment law and how issues can arise simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions. We also understand that issues of bribery and corruption often go to the heart of corporate governance and raise other legal issues for public companies under securities laws.
We can also help you to identify potential risks and provide you with strategic and proactive advice. We can help you to develop sensible, practical anti-bribery systems and controls and undertake due diligence in the context of acquisitions. We can also provide you with customized anti-corruption training, both online and in person, and with anti-bribery audits and gap analyses.
We help General Counsel manage bribery and corruption risk when it threatens the business, the board, and individuals. We do so from the first report or suspicion of a problem through investigation, regulator engagement, and resolution either at or before trial.
We are most often instructed when issues are sensitive, fast moving, and difficult to reverse, including:
- Whistleblower allegations involving senior management or high risk jurisdictions
- Internal investigations raising potential self reporting questions
- Requests from regulators, prosecutors, or enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions
- Criminal risk identified during mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, or third party relationships
- Tension between legal privilege, auditor expectations, and board disclosure
- Situations where reputational, regulatory, and criminal exposure arise simultaneously
We understand that these matters rarely arrive neatly defined. Our focus is on helping General Counsel establish control quickly, protect privilege, and determine a clear strategy. We advise with a clear understanding of board dynamics, individual exposure, and enforcement expectations. We calibrate our advice for decision makers, not academic debate.
We conduct and support internal investigations across multiple jurisdictions, working closely with in house teams to ensure investigations are proportionate, defensible, and aligned with regulatory risk. Where appropriate, we advise on engagement with prosecutors and regulators, including self reporting, remediation, and resolution strategies.
We advise on anti bribery systems and controls that are workable in practice and credible to regulators. Our work includes risk assessments, compliance reviews, third party due diligence, and programme design—often following regulatory scrutiny or as part of transaction driven risk management.
Our work includes advising:
- a company in negotiating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the UK Serious Fraud Office
- an energy sector company on suspected corruption and fraud issues affecting one of its operations in north Africa. This matter involved advice on self-reporting to the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice
- a higher education institution on a wide-ranging investigation, which includes alleged corruption
- a publicly listed multinational company on suspected corruption and fraud within one of its UK subsidiaries
- a medical devices company on investigating suspected corruption and fraud involving healthcare professionals
- a multinational engineering group on a multi jurisdictional bribery investigation spanning Europe, Asia, and the United States, including board briefings and regulator engagement
- a global manufacturing company on bribery risk identified during an acquisition, including enhanced due diligence and remediation planning
- a listed company responding to whistleblower allegations involving overseas operations, balancing investigation, disclosure, and reputational risk
- a senior executives and directors facing potential individual exposure arising from corporate bribery investigations
- a global compliance teams on redesigning anti corruption frameworks following regulator criticism
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