Investigations & White Collar
VdA’s Investigations & White-Collar practice is composed of a team specialised in advising and representing clients in criminal cases, as well as in regulatory and misdemeanour litigation, in close collaboration with the firm’s other practices dealing with matters related to the cases handled by the team.
The Investigations & White-Collar practice actively collaborates with clients in the design, implementation and monitoring of compliance programmes aimed at providing them with the necessary instruments and mechanisms to comply with the applicable legal and regulatory requirements. All this with a view to mitigating risks, avoiding liability, and ensuring compliance with national and international best practices, specifically with respect to the prevention of corruption and related offences, the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the whistleblower protection regime.
Our practice area has extensive experience in conducting internal investigations, both as part of compliance exercises and following the opening of proceedings against companies.
The Investigations & White-Collar practice also advises clients on compliance with restrictive measures and international sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United Nations, which not only restrict the import and export of goods and services in a global economy, but also expose companies to significant criminal and reputational risks.
Legal services
- Criminal: representing clients both in the defence and prosecution sides in criminal cases, with a focus on economic crimes (including cybercrime, capital markets-related crimes, fraud, corruption and related offences, scams, and tax crimes, among others). Assisting clients during dawn raids and searches and seizures conducted by the criminal authorities.
- European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO): representing clients in the context of criminal proceedings brought by EPPO.
- Regulatory and Misdemeanour proceedings: representing clients in regulatory and misdemeanour proceedings brought by the various sectoral regulatory authorities and by transversal authorities (including the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM), National Data Protection Commission (CNPD), Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE), Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC), Portuguese Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANACOM), Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE), Portuguese Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC), Portuguese Games Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), Portuguese Authority for Medicines and Health Products (INFARMED), and the Inspectorate-General for Agriculture, the Sea, the Environment, and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT), in the following sectors: banking, financial and capital markets, insurance, environment, tax, labour, telecommunications, privacy, postal, health, games, construction, real estate and urban planning, and competition).
- Compliance and Corporate Risk Management: design and implementation of ethics and integrity programmes, and application of the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, anti-corruption and related offences, and whistleblower protection regimes.
- Internal Investigations: with a view to preparing companies’ defences following the launch of sanction procedures and in the context of due diligence exercises and periodic compliance reviews.
- Economic Sanctions and Restrictive Measures: advising on the implementation of European Union sanctions regimes and defending cases involving allegations of non-compliance with restrictive measures.
- International Judicial Cooperation: intervention in proceedings for the enforcement in Portugal of sanctions imposed by foreign countries and for the collection of evidence requiring international judicial cooperation.