Criminal law, legal assistance, internal investigations, crisis management and compliance

Today, companies and their managers can be confronted more than ever with compliance incidents, crisis situations and criminal or regulatory conduct. Our interdisciplinary integrated practice, consisting of experienced experts in the fields of criminal law, legal assistance, internal investigations, crisis management and compliance, can handle national or international challenges in this field comprehensively at all times.

One of the factors that sets us apart is that we have an above-average number of partners with investigative and white-collar crime experience from globally active companies. Our team has successfully represented numerous listed companies as well as agencies from the public sector in high-profile cases. The cases we handle include international corruption, healthcare compliance, conflict of interest cases, cyber-crime, trade compliance, antitrust law, money laundering, breaches of public law, violations of FINMA-supervised companies, me-too investigations and anti-competitive behavior.

With a total of more than 40 attorneys throughout Switzerland specializing in criminal law, legal assistance, internal investigations, crisis management and compliance, Kellerhals Carrard is one of the largest and most active law firms in the country in this field. This enables teams to be set up across Switzerland to handle all types of national and international cases.

How a company reacts to a crisis situation, in other words, in the first few hours and days after becoming aware of a compliance incident, is crucial for managing the crisis, protecting the company’s reputation and preventing damage. Our interdisciplinary crisis management team, which is made up of lawyers and other specialists who have dealt with crises for many years in globally active companies, provides you with immediate, strategic, pragmatic, comprehensive and proactive support.

In all cases, be it for inquiries from domestic or foreign authorities or for internal investigations, we provide our clients with a partner from the core team as a contact person who will deal with any questions that arise. Regardless of how complex the issues are, our extensive experience and integrated working methods ensure comprehensive coverage for all issues.

Skills

Criminal law, legal assistance

With our specialized team, we offer support in the core areas of criminal law and legal assistance, including the following:

• Interdisciplinary advice in connection with national or international matters in the field of criminal law, specifically in connection with fraud, embezzlement, corruption, insider trading, cyber-crime, the collection of Bitcoin, money laundering, breaches of embargoes, etc.
• Prosecution and recovery of assets obtained by criminal action and located in Switzerland or another legal system, first of all by means of disclosure and blocking orders
• Representing companies and managers in administrative and regulatory proceedings as well as in criminal proceedings
• Strategic advice and representation of companies and managers who are confronted with accusations from the field of criminal law and/or criminal recovery claims
• Support for financial intermediaries and account holders of Swiss banks who are confronted with a frozen account or a request for disclosure in the course of national or international criminal proceedings

Internal investigations, crisis management

With our interdisciplinary team of lawyers and other specialists with extensive internal corporate investigation experience, expertise in crisis management and long-term experience in cross-border cooperation and international procedures, we specifically offer the following services:

• Internal and regulatory investigations in connection with national or international issues for companies on behalf of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board, for example, in the pharmaceutical and medtech sector, anti-corruption compliance, for the public sector, competition law, financial services and insurance, cyber-crime, sports and #MeToo issues
• Immediate practical support for clients in crisis management, in other words, in the development of comprehensive and proactive strategies for successful crisis management with the aim of protecting the company’s reputation and preventing damage
• Supporting the company with precautionary measures such as data backup, immediate measures under labor law, legal insurance issues, coordinating the legal representation of both members of the Executive Board and employees, ad hoc relevance, etc.
• Supporting companies in internal and external communication as well as in responding to requests from domestic and foreign authorities
• Representing companies in official investigations by Swiss and foreign supervisory and criminal authorities
• Advising companies in connection with cross-border internal and official investigations, in particular with regard to Swiss sovereignty and secrecy protection regulations
• Monitoring and support in internal investigations as well as advising clients in internal investigations, including assistance in setting up the right corporate project governance
• Representing and advising clients in parliamentary investigations
• Supporting companies in processing the findings of internal investigations, including through disciplinary measures under labor law, training and adjustments to the compliance management system
• Consulting in corporate governance issues

Compliance

Our experienced compliance team supports companies in setting up compliance management systems, as well as adhering to the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions and following internal investigations. This includes implementing measures to prevent money laundering, violations of antitrust law, corruption and insider trading, as well as control mechanisms to ensure compliance with disclosure obligations, market rules and data protection regulations.

We also offer the following specific services:

• Advice on compliance organization as well as related policies and processes
• Training in compliance-related topics
• Support both in the editorial process as well as in the negotiation of compliance-relevant agreements
• Advising companies, authorities and institutions on all aspects of whistle blowing, including infrastructure, guidelines, training, reporting office, reporting