Fraud, Asset Recovery & Investigations
Businesses have seen unprecedented growth in an interconnected world unified by relentless expansion of international commerce and open digital access. At the same time, global commercial integration has heralded the advent of a new species of transnational crime that exploits the diversity of laws and enforcement actions across geographical boundaries.
Using cutting-edge technology, the transnational criminal operates with advanced sophistication and ruthless efficiency. Complex financial vehicles are used to conceal and distribute proceeds of crime in multiple offshore locations at the press of a button. Defrauded corporations are further victimised by the myriad of media platforms and channels accessible worldwide which escalates any crisis situation to a potential reputational calamity.
In order to meet these challenges, corporations and individuals must find the right solutions together with a legal partner – be it in implementing pre-emptive measures to minimize the risk of fraud, recovering stolen assets, conducting investigations, or managing crisis situations, to steer corporations and businesses through the complex challenges of a crisis, we introduce our Fraud, Asset Recovery & Investigations team.
Our team has a wealth of experience in dealing with complex cross-border commercial fraud, asset recovery, investigations, and managing crisis situations, across a multitude of industries ranging from banking and finance, shipping, building and construction and natural resources.
From the collapses of Barings Bank plc in the mid 90s, Lehman Brothers and MF Global in the late 2000s, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Madoff fraud, to the revolutions in the Middle-East, we have been at the forefront of major global distressed and crisis events, guiding corporations and individuals with a steady hand and assisting them in conducting investigations and recovering assets. Our clients include multi-national corporations, state-owned companies, governmental agencies, global and regional financial institutions, private and listed companies, and individual business and public leaders.
Our Cross Border Strength
Backed by a commanding presence and legal resources across 9 countries in Asia, we are able to swiftly assemble response teams to assist our clients manage any crisis, when it happens, as it happens. With an intimate comprehension of the local commercial and legal landscape, cultural norms, and languages, the team provides localised expertise with an international reach. We are well-placed to launch and coordinate simultaneous actions across multiple jurisdictions to trace, identify, and recover assets. Even in jurisdictions where we do not have a direct presence, our strong relationships with specialists around the globe ensure that our clients have seamless access to quick and cost-effective solutions anywhere in the world.
Our Capability
The bespoke services we offer clients broadly cover the following areas:
- Fraud & Asset Recovery
- Investigations
- Crisis Management
Fraud & Asset Recovery
We work hand-in-hand with corporations to customise and implement internal protocols and measures for the detection and prevention of fraud. Where fraud is discovered, we guide our clients in all critical decisions that must be made, focusing on investigation, recovery of assets, protection of business reputation and compliance with regulatory requirements. We offer bespoke services to identify, investigate and unravel fraud. We employ appropriate legal mechanisms to seek redress and recovery. To prevent asset dissipation, we help our clients initiate recovery proceedings in the appropriate jurisdictions, relying on an effective coordinated strike plan to swiftly and decisively recover their assets. These include obtaining court orders compelling third parties to disclose critical information about misappropriated assets, freeze key assets before fraudsters can liquidate or further conceal them.
Investigations
With our in-depth knowledge of regulatory frameworks covering a wide array of industries in the region, we focus on domestic and cross-border investigations, whether regulatory, compliance, or criminal in nature, with tailor-made expertise and experience in investigations covering the banking, financial, securities, shipping, and natural resources sectors throughout Asia’s emerging markets.
We have conducted and advised on investigations into:
- corporate and white-collar crime
- regulatory compliance
- bribery and corruption
- fraud and money laundering
- corporate governance and internal policy breaches
- tax avoidance
- treasury, financial, and accounting practices
- corporate misconduct
- governmental inquiries and mutual legal assistance
- trade and economic sanctions
- cartels and competition
We also assist corporations in laying a strong foundation to prevent and contain any crisis by conceiving and implementing tailor-made compliance and risk programs, coupled with regular training sessions.
Crisis Management
We have the legal expertise and commercial experience to support our clients in managing every crisis situation, from industrial accidents, corporate fraud, collapses in the financial markets, credit crisis, product liability threats, dawn raids/ investigations, assaults from the public or media, to allegations by whistle blowers.
With our specialised understanding of handling crisis situations, we work closely with our clients to manage and limit reputational and institutional risks. We offer appropriate counter-measures to be undertaken and advise on reporting and communication requirements. To minimise risks to corporate image and reputation, we work closely with public relations and strategic communications specialists to manage the dissemination of information to the public. Where our clients have a presence in multiple countries, we help conceive a holistic and harmonised approach to concurrently manage crisis situations across these countries.