Business Crime
2 Hare Court has a proud history of involvement in the largest and most complex white collar crime cases that this country has ever seen. In recent years, for example, members have been instructed in “Blue Index” (the FCA’s first cross-border insider dealing investigation), SFO v Kallakis, the British Airways cartel case, the Kent Pharmaceuticals trial and in the phone-hacking cases. Four out of the eight defence barristers instructed for Operation Tabernula (the FCA’s most complex and largest market abuse prosecution) were members of 2 Hare Court, whilst Chambers has also been significantly involved in the LIBOR and FX litigation.
We offer a ‘cradle to grave’ service, advising at the sensitive pre-charge stage and in relation to restraint proceedings, moving through to trial and confiscation proceedings thereafter if necessary. In addition, we have extensive experience of cases with an international dimension, enabling us to advise on a variety of cross-jurisdictional issues and investigations.
Our barristers have experience of a wide spectrum of the business crime or criminal regulatory issues, which companies or individuals can face, including allegations of:
- Asset forfeiture and recovery
- Bribery & Corruption
- Cartels and anti-competitive behaviour
- Confiscation and restraint orders in the Crown and High Courts
- Corporate manslaughter
- Criminal anti-competitive behaviour (cartels, insider dealing, market abuse, LIBOR and other foreign exchange rate benchmarks, etc.)
- Criminal breach of the employment legislation
- Environmental crime
- Fraud (both domestic and international and in its many different manifestations)
- Health & Safety
- Intellectual property crime
- Licensing
- Money laundering
- Sanctions (SFO investigations, international state co-operation, and advice on internal investigations and compliance)
- Tax (VAT fraud)
- Trading standards
In dealing with these many areas, we also advise and provide training on issues such as whistleblowing, deferred prosecution agreements, the likelihood of civil rather than criminal recovery, global settlements, and in other areas as requested by our clients. We also undertake private prosecutions, primarily on behalf of corporate clients.
Financial Services
Many of our members have extensive regulatory experience in the field of professional discipline. Being able to dovetail that experience with their expertise in financial crime, means that they are regularly instructed to advise and act for firms and individuals working in the financial services sector. Advisory work often includes potential liability under the criminal law in parallel with regulatory breaches of FSMA 2000, e.g. insider dealing, market abuse, fraud and the withdrawal of authorisation.
As a result, we deal not only with criminal investigations, but also cases brought by the FCA in the High Court, in the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal or before the Regulatory Decisions Committee.
Members of the team are instructed directly by individual traders and FCA approved persons to advise and act on their behalf, as well as through their solicitors or other representatives. Our Business Crime & Financial Services Group also offers experience from industry, with members having come to the Bar following careers in other sectors, including; trading and advising in the City of London and other international financial markets.
We have been at the forefront of advising on the major changes to be brought about from 2016 by the new Senior Managers’ Regime.
Finally, we have been involved in some of the largest internal investigations undertaken in recent times by the banks and other financial institutions. In this regard, we are able to advise on the full range of issues which arise, including the scope of the investigation, composition of the investigation team, legal professional privilege, relationships with the SFO and the FCA, managing the end product of the investigation etc.