Financial regulation solicitors
If you have been accused of a financial regulation, money laundering or insider trading-related offence, the first step is to contact a specialist lawyer. At Purcell Parker, our team are experienced in defending a wide range of what can often be highly complex cases.
White collar lawyers in the Birmingham area
As leading solicitors in Birmingham, our city centre location is convenient for many of our clients who require the services of a business crime solicitor or barrister. However, we are aware of the stress and complexity of being accused of an offence of this nature and if you would prefer, we are happy to meet you at a time of your choice to discuss the allegations against you.
Paying for your financial regulation, money laundering or insider trading defence
If you are being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), you will almost certainly be required to pay for your own legal representation. However, in order to help you plan and know where you stand financially, our white collar crime solicitors may be able to provide you with a competitive fixed-fee quote for your legal defence.
Our first meeting will always be on a no-obligation basis and should you decide to proceed with Purcell Parker, we will keep you updated with all aspects of your case in a clear and empathetic way.
Types of cases we can help with include the following:
Financial regulation compliance
In the UK, the onus is on firms who are required to be regulated by the FCA to make sure they have the appropriate systems in place to prevent financial crime and to uncover and report it when it does occur. Identifying the risk of financial crime is not a box-ticking exercise. Businesses are expected to put systems in place appropriate to their size, the type of customer they have, and how those customers use their services – and could potentially abuse them.
However, even with the best of intentions and the required audited systems in place, financial crime within a business can happen. When it does, it can have a devastating effect not just on those implicated, but on the reputation of the company as a whole.
As a result, if you are the subject of allegations of non-compliance with financial regulation obligations, it’s crucial to get an expert solicitor on your side as soon as you possibly can in order to establish the circumstances of the accusations and prepare your defence.
Insider trading lawyers
In recent years, as the UK regulator, the FCA has come under immense pressure to concentrate its efforts on securing convictions for insider trading (also referred to as insider dealing), often under the terms of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Put simply, insider trading can be defined as dealing on a company’s stocks and shares using non-public information. For example, a company employee who has access to information about the takeover of a business could profit from this information by selling or buying stock in the company before this information becomes public. However, although easily defined, this can be an incredibly complex area of the law and it’s important to get expert legal advice from the very beginning of any proceedings against you.
The FCA has wide-ranging powers to investigate those whom they suspect of insider trading. However, the team at Purcell Parker can help with all aspects of an FCA investigation including interview under compulsion, any trial that arises and any confiscation of assets following a trial.
Money laundering solicitors
Money laundering involves hiding the origins of illegally-obtained money by passing it through what are usually complicated sequences of banking transfers or other transactions, in order for the money to appear legitimate in order to be spent.
In order to protect the integrity of the financial system, the UK has some of the strictest money laundering legislation in the world, much of which is covered in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Businesses that fall into the regulated category, such as banking and estate agencies, are required by law to report any suspicious activity by clients to the authorities. For some businesses, money laundering regulations are an extra obligation on top of their responsibilities in terms of financial regulation compliance. Unlike many other countries, the UK’s money laundering laws cover a number of acquisitive crimes. For example gaining a financial advantage by evading tax can be classed as money laundering.
With prison sentences of up to 14 years possible in the most serious cases, it’s vital to ensure you get the right legal representation in place at the earliest opportunity if you have been accused of money laundering or of running a business that has failed to prevent this kind of illegal activity. Again, Purcell Parker can advise on all aspects of your case, from interview under compulsion, to trial, to any confiscation of assets proceedings against you.
Proceeds of crime
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is a powerful and far reaching piece of legislation which was created with the main aim of countering the increasingly destructive effects of money laundering on the UK economy. Under the Act, the authorities have the power to pursue confiscation orders to recover cash or other assets including property from individuals or organisations who they believe have benefited from the profits of crime or who they believe are intending to use the assets in question for criminal activities including money laundering.
Due to the ever more complicated and sophisticated methods employed by criminal gangs, it is increasingly possible to be an unwilling or unwitting participant in criminal activities that involve the proceeds of crime. Being accused of an offence of this nature is an extremely difficult experience and the support and advice of an expert solicitor is a must from the very beginning of the process.
Specialist legal advice you can trust
To find out more about how we can help if you are being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority, please call us on 0121 236 9781 or fill in our contact form.