Money Laundering

Members of chambers advise and represent corporate clients and individuals in respect of their money laundering compliance obligations in a domestic and international context, as well as their regulatory and compliance obligations more generally. Members also undertake extensive work on behalf of prosecuting and regulatory authorities here and overseas.

Members are highly experienced in dealing with cases involving money laundering, asset tracing and recovery with international or cross-jurisdictional aspects. Several members of chambers speak multiple languages, have practiced overseas and maintain strong links with offshore jurisdictions.

Members are typically instructed at every stage of criminal and civil litigation where suspicions of money laundering arise, from the the very early investigative stages of a case, including internal investigations and asset restraint, to the conclusion of proceedings. These include ancillary and related proceedings, parallel proceedings in multiple jurisdictions and the civil recovery of the proceeds of crime. 7BR is able to offer bespoke teams providing advice and representation in a range of factual and legal contexts.

Some of our recent cases include:

• L, M, N and B v Credit Suisse AG: working alongside a leading Guernsey law firm advising four high-net worth individuals from the early stages to eventual successful civil proceedings when seeking to recover $90m deposited with Credit Suisse in Guernsey and subject to an informal asset freeze due to the bank’s and Guernsey Financial Investigation Unit’s money laundering suspicions arising from litigation in another country into bribery and corruption of local government officials surrounding oil-spot trading.
• FCA v NatWest Bank: the first prosecution of a bank under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
• Advising on FCA Anti-Money Laundering regulatory requirements for a cryptoasset / initial coin offering scheme and the likely FCA regulatory treatment of a firm offering cryptoasset exchange services.
• Advising a global investment company in the context of interest from the financial regulator and US SEC in relation to its handling of funds linked to a huge Ponzi fraud, raising complex points of law concerning the rights of beneficial owners to assets held in trust and the scope of AML obligations in offshore jurisdictions. Involved close contact and negotiation with the enforcement agency and financial regulator, analysis of the business model and advice on restraint and confiscation law and the AML Code.
• Successfully defending an ex-MLRO, in the first attempt to prosecute an MLRO in the Isle of Man, for failing to report suspicions of Terrorist Financing and Money Laundering.
• R v Lowther: Prosecution following protracted NCA investigation into activities of an OCG involved in a large-scale money laundering operation, allowing them to accumulate a significant property portfolio. Case involved novel argument on the application of the tracing exercise and the costs of sale of identifiable properties. Successful again in Court of Appeal. Submissions over multiple days. Now a regularly cited authority.
• Advising one of UK’s biggest financial services companies in respect of an FCA investigation into a breach of the Money Laundering Regulations. Involved close examination of s.330 POCA regarding alleged failures to disclose suspicion of money laundering transactions.
• Advising the London subsidiary of a global banking services provider on its obligations under the criminal law and FCA regulations following money laundering suspicions surrounding hundreds of account holders with funds in the UK and various EU branches of the bank.
• Advising a high-net worth individual and celebrity facing criminal restraint of art and other assets worth over £200m following a criminal investigation into money laundering in the gold bullion trade by an OCG.