White Collar Crime

Areas of practice > White Collar Crime

“Highly active practice with an impressive white-collar crime offering”

LALIVE’s White Collar Crime practice is considered to be among the leading practices in Switzerland.

Our team of highly skilled defence lawyers is particularly well-known for its expertise and routinely represents States, companies and individuals in high profile, complex and multi-jurisdictional white collar crime cases as well as in mutual judicial assistance proceedings (including extradition) and sanctions work.

A large volume of our work focuses on the search and recovery of assets as well as on the effective representation all over Switzerland in cases of corruption, fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, disloyal management and cybercrime.

Our international team is composed Swiss, American, Brazilian and Russian speaking lawyers and includes former members of the judiciary, the Office of the Attorney General and the Swiss Federal Criminal Police. With this skillset and experience, we believe that our team is a winning combination. We can provide a rounded strategic assessment and understand the challenges faced by all the parties involved.

We routinely work across borders and are well-versed in multi-jurisdictional matters, calling upon our network of specialist lawyers for support in other jurisdictions.

Our acclaimed investigations practice handles sophisticated cross-border government-led and internal investigations.

  • Advising a major Middle Eastern group and individuals in relation to criminal and civil proceedings in Switzerland regarding a worldwide dispute between clients of the group and another Middle-Eastern group for allegations of fraud in the amount of USD 9 billion. The firm successfully conducted attachment proceedings of a promissory note of USD 1.4 billion in Switzerland against the assets of partners of the defendant
  • Being a member of The Independent Review Panel of Tennis, undertaking an exhaustive review and report of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the tennis practice and rules related to combatting match-fixing, with the purpose of elaborating a list of binding recommendations for the sport’s governing bodies
  • Representing a whistleblower in a multinational company whose information triggered a major investigation for corruption, involving suspected bribery of foreign officials. The investigation into the allegations led to a number of arrests, in cooperation with the Swiss Prosecution Service, the US DOJ, FCPA and SEC
  • Representing an individual targeted by a criminal investigation pending in another European country for conspiracy to commit large scale money laundering and fraud for Chinese organisations, as well as laundering money on a large scale for a Swiss bank’s clients who evaded taxes, with ramifications in several European countries
  • Acting for the administrator of an insolvent foreign bank claiming damages in excess of EUR 400 million in a major fraud case involving various Swiss banks
  • Acting as lead counsel to an international group victim of to an international cybercrime attack involving the transfer of significant funds to false accounts

Impact of Covid-19 on criminal proceedings

Marc Henzelin, Deborah Hondius, Simine Sheybani, Adam El-Hakim, 2020

LALIVE Blog, April 2020

Swiss Blocking Statute: update on do’s and don’ts under the threat of criminal sanctions

Sandrine Giroud, Valentine Bagnoud, Deborah Hondius, 2019

LALIVE Blog, December 2019

Droit Suisse des sanctions et de la confiscation internationales

Sandrine Giroud, Héloïse Rordorf-Braun 2020

Helbing Lichtenhahn, 1st Edition, 2020

La restitution pénale

Benoît Arthur Mauron, 2020

In: S. Giroud & H. Rordorf (eds), Droit suisse des sanctions et de la confiscation internationales,
Bâle 2020, pp. 143-169

Asset Recovery 2020

Marc Henzelin, Sandrine Giroud, Deborah Hondius, 2019

In: William Christopher, Fiona Simpson, Mary Young, Alun Milford and Melinka Berridge (Contributing Eds.), Getting the Deal Through - Asset Recovery 2020, pp. 103-111

The Legal Picture

Teresa Giovannini, Werner Jahnel, Sandrine Giroud, 2019

Arts and Collections Magazine, Vol. 2, 2019, pp. 70-71

Preparing for the negotiation of international financial transactions from the perspective of State borrowers from developing countries

Alexander Troller, 2005

In: UNITAR (Ed.), A New Approach to Debt Management, 2005

LALIVE has built an outstanding reputation and market position for handling top-flight contentious work, both in litigation or arbitration. It has been active in high-profile matters involving bribery and corruption, both for corporates on self-reporting issues and on independent reviews. It is unusual in the top end of the Swiss market for having built a litigation practice for both corporate and high-net-worth individuals acting against banks.

The Lawyer, 2019

Clients applaud the firm's extensive capabilities: "They know how to work with multinationals, can handle matters that have international implications, are responsive and reactive, and have local law expertise." Others are quick to praise the team's dedication and attention to detail: "They do their homework and are always clear in their analysis."

Chambers Europe, White Collar Crime, 2019

Lalive provides ‘a heavy-weight contentious offering’, including a ‘specialisation in white-collar crime’.

Legal 500, Switzerland, Dispute resolution: Litigation, 2018

Acclaimed team with impressive white-collar crime expertise, particularly in the area of cross-border investigations and whistle-blowing cases. Areas of particular expertise include multi-jurisdictional fraud and corruption cases, asset recovery and corporate compliance. Has experience representing states, high net worth individuals and companies active in the banking, business consultancy, transport and sports sectors. One impressed source enthuses that the team possesses "talented lawyers who represent clients and their profession in superb fashion," while also noting that "they are excellent in dealing with the international components of negotiations and representation." One client highlights the ability of the team to "focus on the main important topics," and praises its lawyers for being able to "handle complex and sensitive investigation matters."

Chambers Europe, White Collar Crime, 2018

"Highly active practice with an impressive white-collar crime offering. Areas of expertise include multi-jurisdictional fraud and corruption cases, asset recovery and corporate compliance. Boasts experience representing states, individuals and companies. Has an expanding footprint in Zürich as a result of recent hires. Active in the banking, oil and gas, and sports sectors". "LALIVE are renowned experts in this field". The team is described as "thoughtful, strategic and responsive".

Chambers Europe, White Collar Crime, 2017

"Top-drawer multi-disciplinary team that benefits from offices in Geneva, Zürich and Doha. Standout expertise in banking, energy, asset recovery and white-collar crime disputes. Advises on litigation but is best known for a focus on arbitration, where it acts for sovereign entities and companies. Additional expertise in high-profile investor-state disputes. Possesses particular knowledge of representing clients from the MENA region." One client praises the team's "dedication, expertise and responsiveness". One client states that LALIVE "were more creative and came up with better ideas than the other firm we worked with."

Chambers Europe, Dispute Resolution, 2017

"It is one of the best firms in Switzerland, and our relationship is very smooth, clear and transparent. The lawyers are always available and respond within the hour.” “I have the highest impression of the firm. The lawyers do terrific work, are very thorough, efficient, direct and to the point.”

Chambers Europe, Switzerland, White Collar Crime, 2016

"Lalive has become one of Switzerland’s leading white-collar firms, with a host of major banks as clients.”

Chambers Europe, Switzerland: Dispute Resolution, White Collar Crime, 2013

"This firm has years of experience representing clients in really complicated cases."
"The team is very experienced, clear, available, and realistic. The lawyers inspire confidence."

Chambers Europe, Switzerland: Dispute Resolution, White Collar Crime, 2013

Lalive has an impressive list of clients that it advises on white-collar crime and compliance matters. (...) The team is also adept at the search and recovery of assets and is developing its investigatory capacity.

Chambers Europe, Switzerland: Dispute Resolution, White Collar Crime, 2013

At Lalive, Marc Henzelin focuses on the economic aspect of business crime and is included for his skills as a litigator. He also wins praise for his 'practical' approach to cases.

Who's Who Legal, Switzerland, Business Crime Defence, 2013

"Two 'excellent' names from Lalive feature in this chapter. The 'superb' Marc Henzelin receives recognition for his 'professional manner' and 'depth of expertise'. He is joined by Alexander Troller, a 'true expert'."

Who's Who Legal, Switzerland, Asset Recovery, 2013

"The firm excels at civil arbitration and litigation, as well as white-collar crime cases. Fields of expertise include corporate, private client, TMT and real estate disputes".

Legal 500, Switzerland: Leading firms, Geneva, 2013, Tier 3