Regulatory Investigations – A Guide To Dawn Raids

A Dawn Raid is an unannounced inspection by a regulatory authority, aimed at investigating suspected breaches of the law.

Dawn raids are fact-finding exercises that focus on identifying and securing evidence of infringement. They can involve the following:

• Physical searches of premises;
• Electronic searches of files/emails/messages/chats;
• Seizure of documents;
• Copying of documents;
• Questioning; and
• Formal interviews.

Dawn raids can represent a major intrusion on any business and carry with them potentially lengthy investigations and legal proceedings that can lead to potential sanctions and reputational damage. Therefore, it is important to be fully prepared for the possibility of any potential dawn raid. Here, we will go through the sequence of events involved in a typical dawn raid.