Economic crime is endemic in the global corporate arena and statistics show that the problem is escalating rapidly in South Africa. Yet businesses are lagging behind in their efforts to combat this crime and criminals becoming increasingly sophisticated. Our business crimes and investigations lawyers act for organisations in both the public and private sectors, including municipalities and multinationals, in successfully preventing, detecting and investigating economic crime. This includes closing the loop by instituting legal action where necessary.
The team operates with up-to-the-minute data, keenly aware that accelerating globalisation and the ongoing expansion of the enforcement environment place the private and public sectors under increasing pressure to proactively manage their exposure to economic crime and other risks.
Lack of transparency and accountability in various institutions has triggered governments, including South Africa’s, to legislate and enforce criminal sanctions for violations of laws regulating business activities. Accordingly, organisations are obliged to conduct internal assessments and investigations, either to act on tip-offs on alleged irregularities, or to demonstrate good corporate governance.
Investigations have become more sophisticated in response to the increasingly elaborate tactics of perpetrators. Our business crimes and investigations lawyers have a broad understanding of investigations and enquiries, and the subsequent litigation, enabling them to guide clients through investigations and increase the prospects of successful outcomes.
We draw on our wealth of experience in related practice areas such as insolvency, employment, litigation and competition law. By developing pre-emptive compliance programmes and strategies and conducting internal assessments and investigations, our business crimes and investigations lawyers can assist clients to effectively manage their economic crime risks on an ongoing basis.
Our services include white-collar crime investigation and forensics, prevention and detection of economic crime, electronic discovery, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.
Read the Bribery and Corruption chapter of Global Legal Insights.
Read our Table of Comparisons between corruption law in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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