The Legal 500 > United Kingdom - The Bar > London Bar > Business and regulatory crime (including global investigations)

2 Bedford Row is home to an 'excellent' group of barristers all with established expertise in the field of financial crime; the set's members are particularly well known for appearing in a number of high-profile cases concerning international corruption and bribery. In this space, William Clegg QC represented Graham Hill, a former official for Alstom Network UK, in the long-running case concerning alleged payment of bribes to secure contracts in a number of countries; Hill was acquitted of the charges.

Cloth Fair Chambers is 'a powerhouse set when it comes to business crime', housing 'high-calibre counsel' who are recognised as 'financial crime experts' by clients. Members of the set continue to act in the Barclays trial concerning its 2008 fundraising from Qatari investors; recent developments include Nicholas Purnell QC and Clare Sibson QC successfully defending John Varley, the former bank CEO, against charges of conspiracy to commit fraud. In the junior ranks, Jonathan Barnard acted for Robert Hallett, the former director of Alstom, in the Serious Fraud Office investigation concerning alleged bribery and corruption offences; the defendant was acquitted of all charges.

At the 'impressive' Matrix Chambers, Tim Owen QC appeared in  R (AL) v Serious Fraud Office, regarding the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO's) failure to challenge a company's assertion of legal professional privilege although it was subject to a deferred prosecution agreement after it had self-reported wrongdoing; the key issues concerned the scope of the SFO's disclosure duty towards a defendant in criminal proceedings who had previously been employed by the company.

The 'excellent' Three Raymond Buildings is ‘very strong in business crime’. The set's members are 'highly experienced trial advocates' who handle a broad gamut of business and financial crime cases, such as high-profile corruption and bribery matters, Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigations, and insider trading; more niche specialisms include data protection offences and sanctions. Hugo Keith QC is acting in the long-running SFO investigation into ENRC, namely into alleged deals made between the company and billionaire Dan Gertler.

Financial crime forms a core area of 2 Hare Court's expertise; recent highlights  for its members include Jonathan Kinnear QC successfully representing the Serious Fraud Office in the prosecution of shipping company FH Bertling, including six directors and employees, over an oil project in Angola; the defendants were convicted of paying bribes to a local state oil official to secure shipping contracts worth $20m.

6KBW COLLEGE HILL's members defend and prosecute across a spectrum of business crime matters, with recent instructions involving international bribery, corruption, and interest-rate rigging cases. Duncan Penny QC defended Andreas Hauschild, a former Deutsche Bank executive, who was accused by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of manipulating the Euribor rate; the defendant was acquitted of all charges. Alison Morgan QC is instructed by the SFO in the trial – which began in January 2019 – of four Barclays senior executives regarding the bank's 2008 fundraising from Qatari investors.

QEB Hollis Whiteman's members garner praise from solicitors for their 'impressive range of experience defending and prosecuting in cases brought by both the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority'. Multiple members of the set continue to act in long-running trials concerning the SFO's investigation into Alstom; Peter Finnigan QC is representing the SFO in the prosecution of the Alstom group of companies. Also of note, Mark Ellison QC has been representing a former senior employee of Rolls-Royce (pre-charge and up to the discontinuation of the SFO's investigation in February 2019) following the company's deferred prosecution agreement in 2017.

Viewed as 'strong' in the field of business crime, Red Lion Chambers' members are adept at prosecuting and defending cases involving corruption, bribery, and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigations. Recent highlights include Trevor Archer representing the SFO in a corruption case concerning alleged payments made to a public official in South Korea to secure contracts for seismological equipment to monitor earthquakes and nuclear weapons tests in North Korea over a 13-year period.

25 Bedford Row's members have been kept busy handling a range of financial crime cases; for example, new silk Nicola Howard QC acted in a bribery case concerning inducements to obtain contacts via a public official in Korea. She is appearing in a case spanning over 20 jurisdictions, including Moscow, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid, and Amsterdam, concerning alleged defrauding of $180m from a Russian banking group via fraudulent trades in emerging markets warrants.

Noted for being 'very strong in financial crime', 33 Chancery Lane has established strength in proceeds of crime cases, while on the business crime side, the group's recent workload includes Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigations and corruption cases. Amanda Pinto QC defended a former Barclays rate submitter against the SFO concerning alleged manipulation of her submissions to the calculation of Euribor; the defendant was acquitted.

Fountain Court Chambers houses members with an established track record of defending in high-profile SFO cases. Richard Lissack QC and Robin Barclay represented Barclays in the SFO investigation into the bank's alleged fraud linked to its 2008 capital raising in Qatar; in 2018 the SFO's application for a voluntary bill of indictment against Barclays was dismissed. Meanwhile, Tamara Oppenheimer appeared for ENRC in an appeal against the judgment made in The Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, concerning legal professional privilege over documents produced during an internal investigation; the appeal was successful.