Financial & Corporate Crime

St Pauls Chambers has extensive experience in all types of corporate and financial crime. Our fraud barristers are acknowledged as leaders in the field, consistently appearing in some of the largest and most high-profile domestic cases, frequently with a multi-jurisdictional element.

Chambers draws from a pool of Prosecution and Defence advocates who are well-placed to give strategic advice at all stages of the criminal process. This includes providing critical pre-charge advice both for Prosecuting authorities (including the Serious Fraud Office, the Crown Prosecution Service Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate, the NCA, and HSE) and for corporate and individual suspects. This extends to procedures pursuant to Schedule 17 Crime and Courts Act 2013 (Deferred Prosecution Agreements) and corporate self-reporting.

Our experienced fraud barristers provide advice across the spectrum of corporate and serious fraud investigations and/or prosecutions, including fraud, white-collar crime, bribery and corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, and ancillary asset freezing, restraint and forfeiture proceedings.

We have real and contemporaneous experience in dealing with international or multi-jurisdictional matters, as well as expertise in mutual legal assistance and extradition, to meet the challenges posed by the increasingly globalised nature of fraud investigations and prosecutions.

Members of Chambers are adept at managing highly complex cases (often from the investigation stage) overlapping with civil and commercial law. Members also have extensive experience of disclosure and proceeds of crime and civil forfeiture processes.

Members of Chambers are currently instructed in or have recent experience of cases involving the following offences where the quantum of those offences is put at between £5M and (upwards of) £500M:

• Offences pursuant to sections 1, 5 and 7 of the UK Bribery Act including the corporate failure to prevent;
• Common law conspiracy to cheat;
• Revenue and tax fraud
• Conspiracy to defraud – including via unlawful means;
• Money laundering and conspiracy to money launder;
• Insider dealing and market abuse;
• Benefit fraud.

Chambers is similarly engaged in cases brought by the Insolvency Service with reference to misconduct in corporate office and allied director’s disqualification proceedings.’