In recent years, white-collar crime (ranging from bribery and money laundering offences to securities violations and fraud) has been drawing more attention.
Prosecutors and regulators are targeting businesses, companies and individuals around the world as never before. Countries actively pursue the regulation of financial activities beyond their borders, leading to increased cooperation between law enforcement and regulatory bodies around the world.
We assist clients in the development and implementation of compliance programmes, codes of conduct, codes of ethics and whistle-blowing programmes. We assist clients in the turmoil of investigations led by public prosecutors, and we lead internal investigations requested by our clients.
We dare to care about our clientsā reputational risk. We help them navigate through their crisis. In litigation cases that are subject to media scrutiny, we also assist our clients in their communication strategy, and we stand by them in press conferences whenever required.
2022 Chambers Europe ranks GrĆ©goire Mangeat as one of Switzerlandās leading white-collar crime practitioners.
Our experience includes:ā
- Assisting the daughter of a foreign stateās former leader in criminal proceedings for money laundering conducted by the Federal Office of the Attorney General within the context of a major bribery scandal that led to the seizure of assets amounting to around USD 800 million and mutual legal assistance requests from 20 foreign states.
- Assisting a Swiss bank in relation to anti-money laundering and other regulatory issues regarding a client relationship having certain links to an individual subject to sanctions.
- Assisting a relative of a foreign stateās former leader accused of having received bribes from international companies in exchange for public procurement contracts in his home country.
- Assisting a foreign financial firm in obtaining the release of funds seized within the context of criminal proceedings initiated on suspicion of insider trading.
- Assisting a client suspected of having provided undue advantages to a representative of a sports federation in exchange for the award of media rights for major sporting events.
- Assisting a foreign central bank within the context of criminal proceedings initiated by the Federal Office of the Attorney General in relation to bribes paid to certain employees.
- Assisting clients active in the art world accused by former clients of fraud for having allegedly taken hidden commissions on the acquisition of art works.
- Assisting clients in the delisting of their personal data from sanctions lists and the World-Check database
Key Contacts
GrƩgoire Mangeat
GrƩgoire Mangeat is one of the founders of MANGEAT and Former Chairman of the Geneva Bar Association (2016-2018). He is recommended by Legal 500 and a ranked lawyer by Chambers and Partners.
His main practice areas are Litigation, Arbitration and White Collar Crime and Investigations.
He specialises in assisting and representing clients in Swiss and International proceedings, enforcing and defending against claims and taking preliminary measures (seizing of properties, obtaining bans, prohibiting media releases etc.).
He is a member of the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA) and a member of the European Fraud and Compliance Lawyers (ECFL).
He has proven experience in gathering preliminary evidence, representing clients in white-collar crime, extradition, inheritance or bankruptcy proceedings. He also specialises in the delisting of people or entities from sanction lists and in legal and administrative assistance (tax, criminal and financial matters) and has appeared in several cross-border and multi-jurisdictional proceedings.
GrƩgoire served as Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the Geneva Bar Association (ODA).
Prior to founding Mangeat Attorneys at Law, GrƩgoire was partner at Eversheds in Geneva and a partner at MCP Avocats, Geneva, before that.
He is a lecturer at the University of Geneva (ECAV) and has been teaching litigation skills since 2011.
Fanny Margairaz
Her main practice areas are Litigation and Dispute Management, Financial Crime and Asset Tracing.
Fanny is a Partner at our firm and a member of our Litigation and Financial Crime and Investigations team, and has experience in a wide range of contentious matters including commercial disputes, financial crime and asset tracing, and regularly represents domestic and international clients before the courts.
She holds a Master of Advanced Studies HES-SO in Economic Crime Investigation (MAS LCE) from the Institute of Economic Crime Investigation (ILCE ā HEG Arc) in NeuchĆ¢tel, Switzerland.
Before joining the team, Fanny completed her training with the Geneva Tribunal of First Instance and with a mid-sized Geneva-based law firm.
She also holds a master degree in European and International Law as well as a certificate in Transnational Law from the University of Geneva. During her legal studies she spent a year at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, as well as a year at the University of Sheffield, UK, as an exchange student.
Before joining Mangeat Attorneys at Law, Fanny was associate in the International Arbitration and Litigation team at Eversheds Sutherland in Geneva.
