Proceeds of Crime, Asset Forfeiture & Financial Compliance

6KBW College Hill is recognised as one of the very best chambers in the fields of money laundering and asset forfeiture.

In the last decade, members of chambers have appeared in many of the leading Supreme Court cases concerning the proceeds of crime, including Waya [2012] UKSC 51, Eastenders Cash and Carry [2014] UKSC 34, Ahmad & Fields [2014] UKSC 36, Guraj [2016] UKSC 65 and Gibson [2018] UKSC 2.

Members of chambers advise and act in cases that involve domestic and international asset recovery, particularly where the sums involved are substantial.

Members of chambers have recently acted where requests for assistance have come from Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Italy and Kuwait.

Chambers has a particular specialism advising companies with respect to their terrorist financing and money laundering compliance obligations, as well as their regulatory obligations more generally, often in connection with inquiries and investigations undertaken by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The practice of chambers cuts across criminal, civil and public law, so our members are ideally placed to advise and act in cases involving elements of criminal, civil and public law. Some of our recent cross-jurisdictional cases include: Krager [2011] EWHC 3283 (Ch); Necip [2009] EWHC 755 (Admin); Takkar v MoJ [2011] EWCA Crim 646; E v HMP Hatfield [2013] EWHC 775 (Admin); Emu [2016] EWHC 2561 (Admin); and Gangar [2012] EWCA Crim 1378.

With respect to the civil recovery of the proceeds of crime, members of chambers have acted in a number of high-profile applications for unexplained wealth orders and asset and account freezing orders. Recent cases in this area include: Azam [2014] EWHC 3573 (QB); O’Docherty [2013] EWCA Civ 518; Hymans [2012] EWHC 2889 (QB); Agidi [2011] EWCA Civ 1350; Surin [2013] EWHC 3784 (QB); Abacha [2016] EWCA Civ 760; and Khan [2017] EWHC 27 (QB).