KWM | Compliance, Investigations & Corporate Governance

Are you involved in an inquiry or under investigation? Are you facing increasing regulatory scrutiny? Are you worried about corporate governance?

Our integrated compliance and investigations team can support you in responding to these situations of critical importance to your organisation when needed.

Compliance and investigations

A key feature of 21st century business is the need to conform and comply with multiple regulators, often across different jurisdictions.

Whether you face an external regulatory investigation or you need to conduct your own internal investigation, or are simply looking at improving risk management, our contentious regulatory litigators are adept at taking a holistic approach to compliance, across various disciplines and jurisdictions to ensure you meet the requisite standards of corporate governance.

We act and advise in relation to:

Investigations by financial, tax, anti-trust and criminal authorities
Bribery and corruption matters
Sanctions and compliance violation
Money laundering concerns.

We have in-depth experience of dealing with dawn raids and with every type of regulator, and a crisis management team to help you navigate through any external and internal PR issues.

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Commissions of inquiry

Commissions of Inquiry can be politically sensitive – so they are critical to get right. You need an integrated team that can work hand in hand with your team, understand the sensitivities, and deliver. You get that with King & Wood Mallesons.

We are the market leader in running commissions of inquiry and investigations. With our expertise in administrative law and policy, we have in-depth experience of dealing with politically charged inquiries and investigations, and offer inquiry-specific expertise; including evidence gathering, submission and report writing, and exceptional project management expertise, working in partnership with investigators, government agencies and other stakeholders to deliver on time and on budget.

From vast pools of documentary material, to witness statements, examinations and chain of custody processes, we have the systems and experience to manage any inquiry optimally.

Corporate governance

Most of our clients require robust systems and practices that meet the standards necessary for business today. We can help you set these at the outset and deal with the fall-out when issues arise.

Our lawyers excel at working with senior executives and general counsel at major public and private companies, banks, hedge funds and other investment funds, to help resolve all types of corporate governance problems including:

Activist shareholder actions
Boardroom disputes
Corporate investigations
Disputes arising from the sale of businesses including warranty, earn-out and completion disputes
Directors and Officers (D&O) and Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance coverage issues.

Our track record

We are recognised as leading players in all areas of compliance and investigation work. Our experience includes:

Acting in the most high profile regulatory investigations in China into MNCs by a variety of regulatory authorities
Acting for a major financial institution in connection with the Libor and FX investigations across multiple jurisdictions
Acting for an international bank in a FCA investigation concerning compliance failures and misselling of financial products
Representing 26 municipal council members in relation to the Royal Commission into the Victorian Bushfires
Acting on behalf of Queensland’s principal wagering company in the Queensland Racing Commission of Inquiry and also in the subsequent litigation in the Supreme Court of Queensland
Acting on behalf of Sydney Water and a number of its officers and employees in ICAC’s public inquiry, Operation Credo in 2010, regarding Australian Water Holdings.