Regulatory & Criminal Enforcement

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Regulatory & Criminal Enforcement

Our clients entrust us with handling their most sensitive and complex regulatory and criminal defense matters and compliance and integrity issues. We counsel our clients every step of the process, ranging from legal crisis management, conducting internal investigations and public disclosures, to representation vis-à-vis regulators and criminal authorities or in criminal, administrative or civil court proceedings, and resolving investigations through declinations, settlement or litigation. Many of our cases are resolved without enforcement action being taken, and remain confidential.

We handle cases for our clients wherever they do business. In recent years, we have been involved in more than 30 countries and represented our clients before numerous authorities, including the Dutch public prosecutor, the AFM, DNB, the SEC, the DOJ, OFAC, BIS, the FCA, and MPF and CGU in Brazil. Our office in Shanghai is focused on investigations and enforcement, allowing us to conduct investigations effectively in China and the wider Asian-region, and giving us close proximity to local authorities and regulators. We have assisted clients in developing successful strategies to avoid or mitigate parallel investigations in multiple jurisdictions, and achieve a global resolution in cross-border matters.

We have consistently taken an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to handling regulatory enforcement and corporate crime matters. We combine the firm's expertise and experience in e.g. corporate governance, finance, data protection, financial markets regulation and civil litigation. We also work closely together with leading local law firms and e-discovery and forensic accounting consultancies where the matter so requires in addition to our in-house capabilities. This approach allows us to advise our clients holistically on all relevant aspects of the case.

Our work encompasses a wide variety of areas, such as bribery and corruption, fraud, financial markets regulatory issues, market abuse, money laundering, accounting irregularities, tax fraud, health and safety issues, environment, social and government (ESG), economic sanctions and export controls, cybercrime, corporate espionage and other compliance and integrity incidents. Our clients are active in various sectors, including financial institutions, energy (including oil & gas), manufacturing, retail, e-commerce, technology, chemical, automotive, life sciences, pharmaceutical and health care.

Insights

5 July 2023

China’s new counter-espionage law and recent enforcement raise data security compliance bar

On 1 July 2023, the newly revised Counter-Espionage Law came into effect in China. The amendments significantly expand the scope of activities that can be considered espionage by adding a catch-all provision, and codify the enforcement powers of relevant authorities. The revised law was first introduced in April 2023 amid a surge in Chinese enforcement activity against US-linked consultancy and due diligence firms, including a raid that was nationally broadcast in China.
6 June 2023

National security screening for investments – new Dutch regime up and running

Various geopolitical drivers have contributed to the proliferation of investment screening regimes that are based on national security concerns. Existing screening regimes have been expanded to include additional target activities. The EU has also been nudging member states to establish similar investment screening regimes or intensify the use of established ones. The vast majority of member states already have some form of foreign direct investment (FDI) control in place. The Netherlands, too, has adopted ministerial decrees necessary to implement its own investment screening system. This could affect the investment climate of the Netherlands, which has been historically known for its liberal disposition towards FDI. Investors contemplating acquisitions, or potential sellers, of designated vital providers or of companies active in sensitive technologies should anticipate uncertainty and a potential impact on transaction timelines due to an additional notification process.
15 March 2023

Dutch Whistleblower Protection Act: how key provisions will affect organisations

In October 2019, a directive was adopted to enhance whistleblower protection across the European Union (see our previous article). To implement this directive, the Dutch Senate passed the Dutch Whistleblower Protection Act on 24 January 2023. Among other requirements, the new act amends requirements regarding reporting channels, and enhances protective and supportive measures for reporting parties. The act entered into force on 18 February 2023, except for certain provisions including those on enforcement and anonymous reporting. We highlight some changes introduced by the act that may significantly impact how organisations follow up on whistleblower reports.