White Collar Defense and Regulation
Attorneys in our Chambers, The Legal 500, and Global Investigations Review-ranked White Collar Defense & Regulation group represent companies and individuals in connection with federal and state regulatory investigations, proceedings before self-regulatory organizations, internal investigations, and white collar criminal cases. Staffed by highly experienced former federal and state prosecutors and defense counsel, this group handles our clients’ most sensitive and complex regulatory, investigative, and criminal defense matters.
Our attorneys have represented clients in many of the major investigations of recent years. We have defended institutions and senior executives in proceedings involving the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York State Attorney General, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Federal Reserve in the U.S.; proceedings brought by the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the UK; and in proceedings before the financial market authority (AMF – Autorité des marchés financiers), the banking authority (ACPR – Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution), and the financial prosecutor (PNF – Parquet national financier) in France. We have also handled major corporate internal investigations.
Our engagements have involved virtually every major industry, including technology, securities and banking (including broker-dealers, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks, and foreign and U.S. commercial banks), accounting, aviation, insurance, pharmaceuticals, construction and real estate, e-commerce, energy, hospitality and travel services, as well as the not for profit sector.
Key Contacts
All Attorneys
- Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded
- White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations: The Elite
- SFO Ruling Casts Doubt Over Other Foreign Material, Lawyers Claim, The Law Society Gazette
- K. Blocks Bid to Get U.S. Company Documents in Fraud Probe, Bloomberg Law (Subscription Required)
- UK Supreme Court Limits SFO’s Investigative Powers, Global Investigations Review (Subscription Required)
- SFO Suffers Serious Blow to International Search Powers, Law360 (Subscription Required)
- Greenberg Secures Victory in Hotly-Anticipated SFO Supreme Court Battle, com International (Subscription Required)
- Serious Fraud Office Suffers Setback after Supreme Court Decision, The Lawyer (Subscription Required)
International law firm Cohen & Gresser announced today that Adam Bramwell, former chief of staff and general counsel to Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE), has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and will lead the firm’s new Government Relations practice. Adam has over 25 years of high-level political and lobbying experience, and has close relationships with a network of influential policymakers in both the new administration and the U.S. Congress.
Cohen & Gresser has once again been ranked by Global Investigations Review (GIR) as one of the leading law firms in the world for cross-border investigations. The GIR 100 is an independent guide to the world’s best firms for cross-border investigations. Based on submissions from law firms and extensive research, GIR selects the top 100 firms from around the world able to handle sophisticated government-led internal and cross-border investigations.
International law firm Cohen & Gresser today announced that Richard Kovalevsky QC, a distinguished barrister and Queen’s Counsel, will join the firm’s White Collar Defense & Regulation group as a partner in its London office. As head of Criminal Defense for the London office, Richard’s hire will bolster Cohen & Gresser’s highly-regarded White Collar Defense practice and strengthen the firm’s ability to provide clients with sophisticated and strategic guidance on the most complex government and internal investigations.
Mark S Cohen, Jonathan S Abernethy, Jason Brown, C Evan Stewart, and Thomas E Bezanson were recognized in The Best Lawyers in America‘s 2021 New York listings. Mark, Jonathan, and Jason were recognized for white collar criminal defense; Evan for securities litigation; and Tom for commercial litigation and product liability litigation defense. Additionally, Sharon L Barbour, Winnifred A Lewis, and Nicole Dhir were recognized in the New York list of The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch. Sharon was recognized for white collar criminal defense; Winnifred for commercial litigation; and Nicole for commercial litigation and securities litigation.
John W Gibson speaks to Law360 about the light caseload and lack of charges coming out of the Serious Fraud Office. John notes that the current "cases are worthwhile, but they appear to lack the complexity or global scope of international bribery and corruption cases the SFO is designed to pursue." John also praises the Director of the SFO, Lisa Osofsky, for her "bold and impressive charging decision" regarding the recent investigation of GPT Special Project Management, Ltd. (a subsidiary of Airbus) and three individuals for alleged corruption offenses.
- Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Individuals
- Corporate Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Corporates
- General Commercial Disputes
- Securities Litigation: Defense
Chambers has recognized Cohen & Gresser in its 2020 USA guide for its achievements in General Commercial Litigation and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Chambers commentary highlights the firm's "thoroughness, quality, responsiveness, client care and availability,” noting that "the level of service is stellar, the work product is uniformly superb,” and that C&G is "a great firm with high quality across the board."
Chambers also recognized the following individuals: Jonathan S Abernethy for White Collar Crime & Government Investigations; Karen H Bromberg for Intellectual Property: Patent; Mark S Cohen for Securities Litigation and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations; and Lawrence T Gresser for Commercial Litigation.
Cohen & Gresser's Paris office has been recognized in The Legal 500’s 2020 Europe, Middle East, and Africa guide for its work in seven practice areas: Compliance, Commercial Litigation, Employment, Stock Market Litigation, Tax, White Collar Crime, and IT and Internet. Clients note that the team in Paris “shows great availability and responsiveness” and is “very effective in working through problems and understanding issues to reach reasonable resolutions.”
Cohen & Gresser announces the promotion of Thomas Shortland to counsel in the firm's London office. Tom advises on a broad range of commercial and business disputes, including English High Court litigation, international arbitration, internal investigations, and regulatory proceedings.
- Corporate Investigations/White Collar
- Corporate Investigations/White Collar – Advice to Individuals
- General Commercial Disputes
- Securities Litigation Defense
- Corporate Investigations/White Collar – Advice to Corporates
- Corporate Investigations/White Collar – Advice to Individuals
- General Commercial Disputes
- Securities Litigation Defense
In this C&G client alert, Christian Everdell and Barbara Luse discuss a recent congressional report released by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that exposes how Russian oligarchs looking to evade U.S. sanctions are able to exploit loopholes in the art industry and calls for more regulation in a notoriously opaque industry which, according to the report’s findings, undermines one of the most fundamental tools that U.S. administrations use to pressure foreign governments against “bad behavior.”
In this C&G Client Alert, John W Gibson and Tim Harris discuss the Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA”) public censure of Redcentric PLC for market abuse and the likely implications for FCA enforcement in the context of the economic conditions created by COVID-19.
John W Gibson and Tim Harris offer a practical, cross-border insight into UK anti-money laundering law in their chapter for International Comparative Legal Guides.
John W Gibson, Thomas Shortland, and Ashley Collins outline the key factors company directors must consider when making business decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they may face scrutiny from a range of interested parties including creditors, employees, trade unions, landlords, customers, regulators, insolvency practitioners, and possibly law enforcement.
Dans cette publication, Loïc Henriot, Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Louise Le Guilchet et Magalie Jullien présentent la directive (UE) 2019/1937 du Parlement européen et du Conseil du 23 octobre 2019, qui a vocation à établir des normes minimales communes entre les pays de l’Union européenne pour la protection des lanceurs d’alerte, et analysent les différences qu’elle présente avec le régime de protection des lanceurs d’alerte issu de la Loi Sapin 2.
(In this C&G Client Alert, Loïc Henriot, Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Louise Le Guilchet, and Magalie Jullien discuss Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament (the “Directive”) on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The Directive is intended to establish common minimum standards among European Union countries to protect whistleblowers.)
John W Gibson, Tim Harris, Barbara K Luse, and Charlotte Ritchie discuss the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (“the 2019 Regulations”) that recently came into force in the UK. The 2019 Regulations extend anti-money laundering responsibilities to UK art market participants, including art dealers and other intermediaries, in response to the increasing recognition that high value art is used by criminals and terrorist groups to launder and hide money.
John W Gibson and Tim Harris discuss the enforcement risks created by cum-ex transactions and the implications for jurisdictions, such as the UK, where cum-ex transactions per se have not been carried out, but where dividend arbitrage trades carry a risk of facilitating tax evasion, money laundering, or market abuse.
In his latest column for Federal Bar Council Quarterly, C Evan Stewart revisits the events that ultimately led to the indictment, conviction, reinstatement, and presidential pardon of attorney I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Chief of Staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
In a recent article for Forbes, Muriel Goldberg-Darmon discusses the benefits of an entity’s or individual’s cooperation during an enforcement procedure before the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF, the French financial market regulator).
In this C&G Client Alert, Melissa H Maxman, Ronald F Wick, Erica Lai, and Danielle Morello discuss the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) announcement that it will now consider crediting companies for “robust” compliance programs at the charging stage of criminal antitrust investigations. This signals a reversal of the DOJ’s longstanding policy of allowing substantial penalty reductions only for “early-in” whistleblowers.
This C&G Client Alert examines the proposed Insider Trading Prohibition Act recently unanimously approved by the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. If the bill becomes law, it would simplify an inherently complex legal area, but might also lead to regulators and prosecutors bringing more insider trading cases.
Miriam González Durántez and John W Gibson discuss the deal and no-deal implications for finance and sanctions following a “Brexit” in The Law Society Gazette.
John W Gibson and Miriam González Durántez discuss the parallels between the early enforcement of the Bribery Act 2010 and the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation's first monetary penalty.
Jonathan S Abernethy, S Gale Dick, and Christian R Everdell authored an article examining the Department of Justice's (DOJ) new policy discouraging DOJ attorneys from "piling on" multiple penalties against companies for the same misconduct.
This article first appeared on the website of the Criminal Law Committee of the Legal Practice Division of the International Bar Association, and is reproduced by kind permission of the International Bar Association, London, UK. © International Bar Association.
Mark S Cohen explores the international regulatory landscape with respect to Israeli businesses in an article for the Israel Desks Guide published by Nishlis Legal Marketing.
Christian R Everdell continues his examination of SEC enforcement actions regarding initial coin offerings in an article published by the New York Law Journal, this time analyzing the SEC’s response to RECoin, PlexCoin, and Munchee.
C Evan Stewart examines the judicial development that affected the conflicting dictates between state law and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 went into effect.
Recently, legitimate businesses have begun to recognize the potential value of distributed ledger technology as a stand-alone technological innovation with numerous benefits, including, among other things, preventing money laundering. In this article, Christian R Everdell examines some of the potential applications of Blockchain technology to prevent crime.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et leader du Chapitre Français du Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un webinar à la suite de la publication par le CNB du guide « L’avocat Français et les enquêtes internes » au cours duquel Charlotte Gunka (Senior Legal Counsel Litigation & Compliance du Groupe Renault) et Victoire Chatelin (Avocat au Cabinet Bonifassi Avocats), membres du groupe de travail du CNB, sont intervenues sur le thème de la RGPD et de la loi de blocage.
Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, the leader of the French Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a webinar at Cohen & Gresser’s Paris office relating to the publication of a Conseil national des barreaux’s (CNB) Guide titled “The French Lawyer and Internal Investigations,” during which Charlotte Gunka (Senior Legal Counsel Litigation & Compliance - Groupe Renault) and Victoire Chatelin (Lawyer at Cabinet Bonifassi Avocats), both members of the CNB working group, spoke about RGPD and the blocking statute.
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et leader du Chapitre Français du Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un webinar à la suite de la publication par le CNB du guide « L’avocat Français et les enquêtes internes » au cours duquel Sophie Scemla, Avocat Associée chez Gide membre du groupe de travail du CNB, est intervenue sur le thème de la désignation de l’avocat et du secret professionnel.
Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, the leader of the French Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a breakfast at Cohen & Gresser’s Paris office relating to the publication of the Conseil national des barreaux’s (CNB) Guide “The French Lawyer and Internal Investigations,” during which Sophie Scemla, a partner at Gide and a member of the CNB working group, spoke about appointing a lawyer and legal privilege.
- Supply Chain Disruptions and Third Party Risks
- Increase in Government "Touch Points"
- Multilateral Development Banks and UN Investigations
- Strategies to Avoid Risk as M&A Activity Increases
- Multi-National Companies: Implications for Compliance Professionals
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et leader du Chapitre Français du Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un petit-déjeuner au cours duquel Sophie Schiller, Professeur de droit à l'Université Paris-Dauphine et membre de la Commission des sanctions de l'Autorité des Marchés Financiers "AMF" est intervenue sur le thème de la répression des abus de marché (pénal et AMF).
(Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, leader of the French Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a breakfast at Cohen & Gresser’s Paris office during which Sophie Schiller, a Member of the Enforcement Committee of the French Financial Market Authority and a Law Professor at Paris-Dauphine University, spoke about the enforcement of market abuse (by the Financial Market Authority as well as the Criminal Judge).)
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et leader du Chapitre Français du Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un petit-déjeuner au cours duquel Yousr Khalil & Caroline Fagard, de Forensic Risk Alliance, ont fait une présentation sur l’eDiscovery et Forensic Accounting dans les contentieux et investigations. Des avocates de cabinets français ou internationaux, reconnues pour leur compétence en la matière, ont participé à cet évènement.
(Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, leader of the French Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a breakfast at Cohen & Gresser’s Paris office during which Yousr Khalil & Caroline Fagard from Forensic Risk Alliance spoke about eDiscovery and forensic accounting in litigation and investigations. High-profile female lawyers from major French and international law firms joined the breakfast).
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser à Paris et co-leader du Chapitre Français du Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), a organisé un petit-déjeuner au cours duquel Madame le Bâtonnier de Paris Marie-Aimée Peyron a fait une présentation sur le Legal Privilege. Des avocates de cabinets français ou internationaux, reconnues pour leur compétence en la matière, ont participé à cet évènement.
(Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon, co-leader of the French Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), hosted a breakfast in Cohen & Gresser’s Paris office during which Paris Bar President (Bâtonnier) Marie-Aimée Peyron spoke about legal privilege. High profile female lawyers from major French or international law firms joined the breakfast).
Muriel Goldberg-Darmon a participé à la Table Ronde sur “Quelle coopération entre les mis en cause et l’AMF ?” organisée par la Commission des sanctions de l’AMF le 3 octobre 2018. La table ronde était modérée par : Jean Gaeremynck, président de section au Conseil d’Etat, membre de la Commission des sanctions de l’AMF. Les intervenants étaients : Jean-Luc Blachon, premier vice-procureur, Parquet national financier, Sophie Bresny, chef du service des investigations de l’Autorité de la concurrence Andrew Cotterell, Head of Law, Policy & International, FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), Muriel Goldberg-Darmon Associée du cabinet Cohen & Gresser, Benoît de Juvigny, secrétaire général de l’AMF.
(Partner Muriel Goldberg-Darmon spoke at the AMF Enforcement Committee’s annual symposium on October 3, 2018, as the only speaker from a private law firm. Muriel was a panelist for the second round table on “Cooperation between the respondents and the AMF during investigations or inspections and sanctions,” which was moderated by Jean Gaeremynck, State Councilor and member of the AMF Enforcement Committee. Muriel’s fellow panelists were: Jean-Luc Blachon, First Vice-Prosecutor at the Parquet National Financier; Sophie Bresny, Head of the Inspections Unit at the Autorité de la concurrence; Andrew Cotterell, Head of Law, Policy & International at the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority); and Benoît de Juvigny, Secretary General of the AMF).
- Handling multi-jurisdictional approaches to privileged communications in the aftermath of the recent UK decision in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Ltd. and The RBS Rights Issue Litigation.
- Identifying potential cultural challenges and local laws that may impede an effective investigation and prevent a one-size-fits-all approach to designing internal processes and procedures within multinational organizations.
- Implementing best practices when preparing for and coordinating effective internal investigations across international lines.
Key Contacts