Criminal Compliance & Investigations

Highly specialized team and an indisputable leader in criminal compliance on the Iberian market; leader on the market for carrying out complex and sensitive internal investigations.

Our team has become an indisputable leader on the market for advising national and international companies on the compliance requirements under the Criminal Code. Through our dynamic and multidisciplinary team of experts, we offer technical and specialized advice, adapted to the volume and specific needs of each client, and we provide a wide range of services.

SERVICES

Carrying out the first design and implementation of criminal prevention models.
Adapting existing models in multinational companies to the requirements under the Criminal Code.
Developing and making existing criminal prevention models more sophisticated.
Regularly checking criminal prevention models.
Developing specific crime-prevention tools and control methods to prevent, detect and correct contingencies in certain specialty areas, e.g., anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, privacy protection and international sanctions.
Carrying out preventive and post-acquisition due diligence in relation to criminal compliance.
Monitoring the compliance model for international bodies and multilateral banks.
Outsourcing and managing reporting channels.
Training employees and providing induction training for managers.
Providing legal advice on criminal compliance on an ongoing basis through the figure of the consulting lawyer of the company’s supervisory and control body.
Assisting with internal investigations and implementing remedial measures.
Representing companies in criminal proceedings.

INVESTIGATIONS

Both nationally and abroad, companies are faced with regulations that are increasingly more demanding in relation to regulatory compliance and the crime prevention. Companies must manage the new legal and reputational risks arising from these reinforced compliance standards. The authorities responsible for monitoring regulatory compliance highly value the cooperation of those companies being investigated to clarify the facts and the possible legal liabilities, emphasizing the importance of developing and making available to the authorities complete internal investigations, carried out under the most rigorous requirements.

In this legal framework, we regularly advise global corporations and their boards of directors on carrying out pre-litigation internal investigations and on handling the investigations carried out by national and international court authorities and regulatory bodies, including the World Bank and other multilateral development institutions.

We have extensive experience in carrying out investigations for state-owned and private companies in a wide range of sectors and regions, particularly in Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Thanks to our multidisciplinary team, including expert litigators from different practice areas, we provide holistic, efficient and sophisticated advice in different specialty areas. We highlight the following:

International corruption and other white-collar crimes: We advise on internal investigations, procedural defense and the implementation of preventive and corrective measures in a wide range of areas relating to corruption, fraud, data protection, intellectual and industrial property, town planning, money laundering, investment fraud, environmental law and tax crimes.
Practices penalized by the World Bank and other multilateral development organizations: We advise on how to handle the information requirements, and audits and investigations regarding integrity carried out by the main multilateral development banks (e.g., World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank), as well as managing any possible negotiation strategies and lawsuits brought against those organizations.
International sanctions: We advise on identifying risks, investigating conduct and adapting compliance programs to the requirements arising from international sanction systems.