Investigations
With the increased diligence of regulators in the UAE and around the world, who are empowered to investigate and fine, high calibre legal support at every stage is essential. Our team of contentious practitioners leverage their deep experience to advise on such risks. Offering support with internal investigations and advice on managing outcomes, we are ready to defend clients should regulators or authorities investigate their activities.
Whether advising corporates or individuals caught up in criminal or regulatory investigations, conducting internal investigations on behalf of companies or supporting impacted individuals, notably at c-suite level or whistleblowers, we help our clients steer a course through the legal, regulatory, and reputational challenges such situations present.
From suspected fraud, corruption, and tax evasion to supposed regulatory breaches, our criminal, regulatory, and local UAE and international knowledge means we are able to provide our clients with the best strategically sound and practical advice.
Key Contacts
Representative Experience
- A leading UAE online consumer platform on a major internal investigation concerning a senior employee with access to confidential information. The investigation revealed that the employee had illicitly obtained and sold sensitive data from the platform's secure systems.
- A GCC bank on an investigation by the Central Bank of the UAE regarding a major data breach, resulting in claims that the bank had violated local cyber security regulations.
- A major GCC company in the B2C financing industry, in relation to losses arising out of its trading relationships resulting from a high volume of suspected fraudulent transactions, which involves multiple complex investigatory issues as well as criminal proceedings, civil proceedings, and jurisdictional questions of law.
- A Korean technology giant on a criminal investigation whereby an employee leaked information to competitors under Article 120 of the UAE Labour Law.
- The DIFC branch of a Swiss private bank owned by a UAE investment firm, in all aspects related to a suspected employee fraud, including the internal investigation, and advising on risk and compliance.
- One of the big four accounting firms on a labour case brought by a former senior employer, whom the firm accused of data theft. This involved criminal and civil claims as well as a lengthy and highly sensitive investigation.
- A multinational insurance brokerage on a dispute with a former top executive involving complex elements of fraud and parallel investigations of the Dubai Public Prosecutor and DIFC Data Protection Authority.
- A client on setting up and running an internal investigation, directly helping with conducting the investigation, including all necessary actions and disclosures under the relevant laws.
- The Swiss Commercial Court of the Canton of Zurich, with an expert report on certain issues of UAE law, in relation to a case involving a major bank and its potential breach of UAE federal laws and whether it has jurisdiction to initiate criminal investigations/proceedings.
- A UAE investment fund on an investigation regarding employee failings, notably by compliance officers, which enabled money laundering. This encompassed parallel investigations by the Central Bank and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
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