White Collar Crime & Investigations

The world’s leading companies, financial institutions, Government owned entities and high net worth individuals turn to Al Tamimi & Company’s market leading White Collar Crime and Investigations team to help them manage their financial crime risk in the Middle East and North Africa.

Our team of accomplished white collar crime lawyers is unrivaled for expertise in the region and includes individuals who are ranked Band 1 in independent legal guide Chambers & Partners for corporate investigations.

We support clients across all ten jurisdictions in the Al Tamimi and Company network.

Unparalleled connections with governments and authorities

With an acute awareness of the geopolitical issues that affect the financial crime ecosystem in the region and beyond, our diverse multi-lingual team includes English and Arabic speakers, with both international and regional expertise.

One of the reasons clients trust us with the most high profile and complex financial crime cases and investigations is because of our long-standing excellent relationships with governments and authorities across the region.

Our team enjoys unparalleled connections with local and international government bodies across the MENA region. Clients benefit from these excellent relationships which mean that we can advise on the contextual and regulatory developments related to financial crime.

We are adept at dealing with high profile clients and are acutely aware of the sensitivities involved and deal with crisis management discreetly and away from media or other sources of negative attention.

Experts in complex and sensitive matters

We have significant expertise advising on all aspects of criminal and regulatory law across the MENA region, with a particular focus on money laundering, fraud, bribery and corruption, sanctions and extradition. We act on both internal and regulatory investigations instigated by local and international authorities.

We also assist clients in bringing criminal actions where they have been the victims of crime and to help them recover stolen assets. We often manage multi-jurisdictional criminal proceedings, often in liaison with international law firms in other jurisdictions. Given the global nature of these cases, we also have extensive experience in international mutual legal assistance, extradition and Interpol matters.

We also help clients design and implement anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and sanctions compliance programmes. This includes drafting bespoke policies and procedures, designing workshops and providing tailored training.

For corporate clients, we undertake financial crime due diligence during transactional matters.

Our financial crime services

• White collar crime advisory and representation 
• Criminal Litigation
• Investigations and white collar defence
• Advocacy in national courts
• Drafting in English and Arabic
• Extradition advice
• Challenging Interpol red notices
• Financial crime due diligence during corporate transactions

Examples of our white collar crime crime work 

• Assisting UHNWIs / HNWIs with criminal defence and extradition matters, including representation in appealing and amending INTERPOL notices.
• Greenzone work including reputational defence and client continuance assistance for individuals and corporations.
• Advising foreign governments on domestic criminal law, prosecution procedures, and diplomatic practices in the context of cross-border and politically influenced proceedings.
• Acting for multinational corporate clients in criminal proceedings related to complex fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust issues, including carrying out internal investigations, filing criminal complaints, and representation before the authorities.
• Providing strategic and legal support for financial institutions in respect of money laundering investigations, encompassing reporting strategies, analysis of international money laundering typologies, provision of a remedial framework and long-term risks analysis.
• Advising multinational companies on domestic sanctions legislation and the applicability of international sanctions regimes from a local perspective.
• Drafting internal policies of regulated and non-regulated high-risk companies in respect of internal financial crime controls and other compliance-related protocols. Designing compliance frameworks for entities in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including drafting new anti-money laundering legislation for freezones.
• Advising various Government Ministries within the GCC on a number of matters of policy and diplomatic communications in respect of financial crime matters.
• Advising on various special projects, most recently advising an international law firm on UAE constitutional law, powers of public office, and national security policy in support of ongoing proceedings against the ultimate client for espionage charges.