Clifford Chance LLP

Clifford Chance LLP remains at the forefront of regulatory, investigations and financial crime work. Its ‘highly experienced’ team is a key port of call for high-profile financial services clients, as well as a number of corporate clients across sectors including aerospace, healthcare, defence, electronics and tech. The scope of the team’s work is broad, from precedent-setting PRA and FCA investigations to sanction prosecutions and criminal proceedings under money laundering regulations. Increasingly, the group is also applying its contentious expertise to ESG, corruption, and fraud issues. The ’experienced and pragmatic’ Dorian Drew co-heads the practice, leveraging decades of experience in high-stakes regulatory investigations and enforcement action. Drew leads the team alongside the ‘extremely capable…considered and conscientious’ Oliver Pegden, who is regularly instructed on complex regulatory enforcement matters, including high-profile FCA and PRA investigations into insider dealing, gilt market manipulation, and dividend arbitrage schemes; Pegden also leads sensitive internal investigations involving data sharing within investment banks. Kelwin Nicholls advises across a broad spectrum of contentious regulatory matters, from precedent-setting investigations in the blockchain sector to multi-agency proceedings involving complex allegations of misconduct. Michael Lyons brings deep expertise in financial crime and regulatory enforcement, routinely advising institutions on high-stakes investigations involving sanctions, AML breaches, export controls, and bribery concerns. Samantha Ward combines expertise in competition litigation and contentious regulatory enforcement, frequently supporting financial institutions in high-profile investigations spanning cartel conduct, systems and controls failures, and financial market integrity.