Financial Crime: Individuals
UK Guide 2025 : London (Firms)
Band 2
Email address
[email protected]Contact number
(020) 7842 1616About
Provided by PCB Byrne
The criminal team defends major prosecutions by the principal prosecution agencies (including the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, the National Crime Agency, the CMA, HMRC and specialist departments of the Crown Prosecution Service). Work covers all aspects of serious fraud allegations, money laundering issues, bribery and corruption, market abuse investigations, stock exchange inquiries, tax investigations, sanctions and export control issues and investigations pursued by competition authorities. Many cases involve international investigations and prosecutions involving authorities such as the DOJ and SEC in the US and the PNF, Bafin and other federal agencies in Europe. The team also has lots of experience in mutual legal assistance matters and extradition. The firm has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial and trade sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries, including Russia, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria. Our most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services (Jersey), including challenging the ‘designated’ status of a number of high-profile Russian citizens, and advising various Russian companies in a range of industry sectors on potential exposures arising from the evolving EU, US and UK sanctions regime.
Chambers Review
The team at PCB Byrne provides highly tailored business crime representation to a range of organisations and senior professionals, mainly in the financial services sector. It has a strong reputation across financial crime including fraud, money laundering and tax investigations, with extensive expertise in corruption proceedings and regulatory investigations. A reliable choice for company executives facing potentially criminal SFO and FCA action, the team also has a strong record of acting in multi-agency rate-fixing investigations.
Work Highlights
- PCB Byrne acted for Narinder Sandhu, owner of Packpost International, in a claim alleging conspiracy to defraud the Royal Mail in a scheme valued at £81 million.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"In terms of combining the civil and criminal aspect of fraud, they do it very well."
"They all have years of experience in this area and have been in all the best cases over the years."
"In terms of combining the civil and criminal aspect of fraud, they do it very well."
"They all have years of experience in this area and have been in all the best cases over the years."
Notable Practitioners
Matthew Frankland regularly advises on multi-jurisdictional investigations led by the SFO and DOJ into bribery, fraud and corruption allegations.
"He's a good practitioner."
"He couples a charming client manner with an acute sense of what is realistic and is a real pleasure to work with."
"He has supreme judgement and experience: a master tactician and good at handling clients. He's a versatile practitioner."
Michael Potts is a respected practitioner noted for his experience advising clients on domestic and multi-jurisdictional investigations into allegations of corruption and tax fraud.
"He is excellent with the client, really on top of the detail and gets right to the point."
"He's my first port of call for anything criminal or regulatory related; he's very well known in that field."
"He is always in control of all the processes and keeps a close eye on all the operations. He shows a strong vision, a great attitude towards the client and powerful skills."
"Michael has excellent technical expertise and is always balanced in his advice."
Sara Teasdale focuses her practice on large-scale SFO and FCA investigations, advising senior executives on a range of issues including bribery, corruption and money laundering.
"Sara is a seasoned practitioner and a delight to deal with."
"She's amazing. Sara is incredibly bright, intelligent, hard-working and has good commercial knowledge."
"She has a very good strategic view."
Ranked Lawyers at
PCB Byrne
London (Firms)