Regulatory Investigations
Business regulation is continually increasing, especially in the financial and health and safety sectors.
For companies to prosper, they need access to quick, specialist regulatory compliance advice to prevent breaches and smart, tenacious representation should a breach occur.
Our Business and Regulatory Solicitors are experts in their fields and have a diverse range of experience across almost every market sector. Not only do we know the regulators and the processes and procedures they follow, but we are also extremely good at taking matters off your shoulders so you can get on with growing your business.
Based in our Coventry city centre offices, we are a diverse, multi-lingual law firm that uses best-in-class technology to provide clients with a streamlined, modern, and highly effective criminal defence and legal support during regulatory investigations.
Our Criminal Solicitors in Coventry and Warwickshire have successfully advised and represented clients in regulatory investigations launched by the SFO, FCA, Trading Standards Authority, HSE, Food Standards Agency, Environment Agency, HMRC, ICO, local authorities, and others. Our specialist solicitors have years of experience in criminal law means we have a robust reputation for excellence with the UK’s best Barristers and King’s Counsel. Our clients also benefit from our ability to instruct the country’s most respected expert witnesses.
When do I need a Solicitor if I am being investigated by a regulatory body?
The biggest mistake organisations facing a regulatory investigation make is not seeking legal advice as soon as it becomes apparent that an enforcement body is asking questions about their business. Seemingly innocent regulatory requests for information can result in a full-blown investigation and prosecution. Our job is to provide you and your Board with the advice you need to prevent or end an investigation as swiftly as possible. We do this by talking to key stakeholders in your business to understand the culture and practices of not only your organisation but the market sector you operate in. This means we can build a defence that takes into consideration the norms and commercial realities of your sector. We can also provide water-tight advice if you are asked to attend an interview under caution and make sure legal professional privilege and litigation privilege is protected throughout the entire investigation.
Our team has advised organisations ranging from SMEs to large organisations with cross-border issues. You can be confident in our process, knowledge, and commercial shrewdness. Whatever you call us for, be it a health and safety fatality, an alleged trading standards breach, or a dawn raid, we will be at your side as soon as possible, checking the lawfulness of the investigators’ actions, advising staff, keeping notes on who the investigators speak to, the questions they ask, and the documents they seize, and conducting our own investigation into the incident with an aim shutting down the inquiry fast or building a vigorous defence should prosecution occur.
What is an ‘interview under caution’?
If you are being investigated by a regulatory body, you may be asked to attend an interview under caution. It is vital that one of our team is present during the interview. The investigating officers would not ask you to attend an interview under caution unless they have reasonable evidence to bring a prosecution.
The purpose of an interview under caution is for the investigator to obtain evidence through questioning. The interview will be recorded, and anything you say can be used as evidence in a criminal trial. In some circumstances, your silence on certain matters may be used as evidence against you. Not having legal representation at an interview under caution leaves you and your organisation vulnerable. Regulatory investigators are highly experienced and know how to elicit answers that may help them build a case against you. Our Regulatory Solicitors understand their aims and motivations and the legal parameters investigators must operate within. You can be confident that with us by your side, your interests will be fully protected.
Why choose us?
We have a full Criminal Defence Department and can call on a wide range of expertise to devise a robust strategy to close down an investigation quickly or defend a prosecution. Our Solicitors are smart, trustworthy, and results-driven and have the knowledge and contacts required to support your in-house legal team and senior management.
As a full-service law firm, our solicitors can add value to your business before a compliance breach occurs by advising you on how to prevent regulatory violations in the first place. Our team can work out compliance strategies that consider and balance the applicable regulator’s sensitivities and objectives with commercial reality. Because we aim to work with you long term, we will quickly gain an understanding of your business and market sector. Using this information, we will advise you on undertaking risk assessments, ensure your contracts are compliant with international and UK law, and provide an emergency response should a health and safety disaster occur or your business is subject to a dawn raid.
People choose and recommend us not just in Coventry, Nuneaton, Rugby and Leamington, but across Warwickshire, the Midlands and the whole of the UK., because we get results.
To receive expert advice and representation regarding regulatory investigations, please contact us using the form below, call us on Coventry (02476) 231000, email enquiries@askewslegal.co. or visit us at our city centre offices in Coventry.