White-collar & criminal defence.
The firm represents individuals and entities exposed to criminal investigation, prosecution, or regulatory enforcement in matters with cross-border dimension. The work covers active defence, preventive counsel during the investigation phase, and the compliance work that follows from the resolution. The firm acts in defence — it does not act for prosecuting authorities, regulators, or whistleblowers, and it does not bring private prosecutions.
Engagements arise most often in connection with broader matters the firm is already handling — a tax dispute that escalates into a criminal referral, an acquisition where post-closing diligence reveals exposure, a banking relationship where the bank's analysis triggers a Suspicious Activity Report. The criminal dimension is rarely the entry point of the relationship.
Six recurring workstreams.
Defence in tax, financial, and economic crime proceedings
Representation in proceedings concerning tax fraud, money laundering, market abuse, and corruption, across the procedural systems of the firm's working jurisdictions.
Preventive counsel during investigation
Advice during the pre-charge phase — responses to information requests, navigation of search-and-seizure operations, and decisions on whether and when to engage with the investigating authority.
Internal investigations and compliance reviews
Coordination of internal investigations on behalf of the client where the matter has not yet reached the authorities, with attention to the privilege questions that cross-border investigations now routinely raise.
Regulatory enforcement
Strategic advice and coordination of representation before financial-services regulators (FINMA, AMF, FCA, SEC, NY DFS) where enforcement proceedings have been opened or are anticipated.
Asset preservation and restitution
Defence against confiscation, freezing, and forfeiture orders, and the procedural recovery of assets that have been seized in connection with concluded or terminated proceedings.
Settlement and resolution
Negotiation of plea agreements, deferred prosecution arrangements, and equivalent resolution mechanisms where a contested resolution is not in the client's interest.
Defence under partner supervision.
Criminal matters are supervised directly by a partner from the moment the firm is retained. The procedural appearance — court appearances, hearings before the juge d'instruction, submissions to the procureur — is handled by criminal-defence counsel admitted in the relevant forum, with whom the firm has long-standing working relationships. The firm does not represent multiple defendants in connected proceedings where the defences may diverge. Where joint representation is requested, the firm assesses the conflict carefully and may decline if the conflict cannot be managed in the client's interest.