The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has jurisdiction to investigate companies and individuals, whether they are in the regulated sector or not. The complexities of financial regulation and investigation can ensnare even the most cautious. The potential consequences of an adverse finding or criminal proceedings are devastating.
Our team of specialist criminal defence lawyers represent corporate and individual clients throughout regulatory and criminal investigations conducted by the FSA's enforcement division. We have extensive experience of representing businesses, as well as high profile individuals, senior company personnel, in FSA investigations for offences including market abuse, market misconduct, insider dealing and breaches of the FSA's principles for business and approved persons.
The framework created by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) means that intelligent and tactical representation is crucial. We provide strategic and pragmatic advice, in circumstances where there is often a complex dynamic between dealing with the FSA exercising its criminal prosecution or regulatory enforcement powers and employment issues, including advice on employers' internal investigations. We have represented individuals and companies from all aspects of the financial and commercial world including leading hedge fund managers, traders, senior corporate management, independent financial advisers, mortgage brokers, investors and company advisers.
There is a trend for the FSA to obtain information for or share information with overseas regulators or investigators. This may be through information-sharing gateways or more formal mutual legal assistance procedures. Our financial regulatory team is experienced in dealing with financial investigations which have an overseas or multi-jurisdictional aspect.
Under the coalitions restructuring of the FSA, their criminal and regulatory enforcement powers are due to be transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the FCA's approach to regulation is set out in a report published in June 2011. In the meantime, the message is that it will be “business as usual”, and in particular that the trend for an increasing number of criminal prosecutions and higher fines against individuals and companies will continue.
If you would like to speak to our criminal defence solicitors, please contact Louise Hodges.
Notable cases
- Acting for a number of witnesses in the current Libor investigation conducted by the FSA, DOJ, FBI, CFTC and SEC
- Acted for a hedge fund manager in a leading Financial FSA investigation and Financial Services and Markets Tribunal (FSMT) hearings
- Acted for an individual from AIT in the FSA's first criminal prosecution for misleading the market (section 397 FSMA 2000)
- Representing traders in regulatory and criminal investigations by several jurisdictions concerning allegations of market misconduct
- Acted for the main defendant in one of the first major insider dealing prosecutions brought by the Crown Prosecution Service
"'for clients facing such cases, "it is impossible to do better" than to instruct this team."
Chambers and Partners 2012