Steve is a Partner in the Financial Services Disputes and Investigations group in our London office, specializing in Corporate Crime and Investigations.
He is an experienced criminal litigator and advises individuals and corporate clients in respect of financial crime matters often with cross-jurisdictional impact.
Having worked as a white-collar crime defense lawyer for over ten years, Steve moved to the Enforcement Division of the Financial Conduct Authority where he was a Senior Lawyer in the Criminal Prosecutions Team. While at the FCA, Steve investigated and prosecuted fraud and insider dealing cases. He also worked closely with HM Treasury on the drafting of the market manipulation offenses introduced by Part 7 of the Financial Services Act 2012 and in supporting negotiations at the EU Working Group on the Criminal Sanctions Market Abuse Directive.
Steve then moved to lead the Financial Crime Advisory Team supporting the Private Bank of a major Global Bank and, latterly, as Deputy Head of Financial Crime for the EMEA offices of a Japanese Investment House (covering global markets and investment banking). During this time, he gained a good insight into the challenges facing an MLRO and financial crime advisory team in enabling compliance with complex legal and regulatory requirements in both a domestic and an international environment. He also supported extensive KYC remediation projects across retail and wholesale client bases.
He draws on his unusual experience as a defense lawyer, former prosecutor for the Financial Conduct Authority and, most recently, as the Deputy MLRO for a major global financial institution, to:
- defend individuals and corporate clients in financial crime, fraud and regulatory investigations and prosecutions
- advise on financial crime compliance with a particular emphasis on anti-money laundering and anti-bribery systems and controls