Freshfields launches global investigations team
05 February 2010
In what sounds like a suspiciously glamorous move for a Magic Circle firm, Freshfields has launched a global "fraud investigations" practice. The new business is designed to help its clients face what the firm calls "aggressive cross-border investigations from regulators and prosecution authorities".
 
Two litigation partners, Adam Siegel and Geoff Nicholas, will head up the team which comprises 67 partners from 13 jurisdictions. The firm says it will focus on corporate corruption, bribery, trade issues and market abuse.

Market abuse yesterday

Freshfields is clearly taking this pretty seriously - but then there would appear to be a significant demand. A survey by the firm of FTSE 350 General Counsels found that almost 40% believed that the risk of international litigation and international regulatory investigations had increased over the past year.

Siegler said "Regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice are taking a hard line view on what they see as corporate corruption, and are at times using tangential links with the US as the basis for initiating cross-border investigations".