Senior Partner Aziz Rahman contributes a chapter to the 2020 International Comparative Legal Guide on Corporate Investigations

For the third year running Rahman Ravelli has provided an expert chapter for the International Comparative Legal Guide on Corporate Investigations. The firm’s founder and Senior Partner Aziz Rahman is the author of the chapter, entitled “Bribery and Corruption: Investigations and Negotiations Across Jurisdictions’’.

As the Guide is intended to be a practical cross-border insight into corporate investigations, Aziz’s chapter gives an overview of current legislation relating to bribery and corruption investigations. He also goes into detail about the approach that needs to be taken by a company that finds itself the subject of such an investigation or believes it is about to be investigated.

The chapter examines the prosecution of bribery and the impact that the UK’s Bribery Act has had since it came into effect in July 2011. It also explains the law relating to bribery and corruption that preceded the Act. Significant cases of recent years are detailed - and the reasons for their significance are explained – as are some high-profile investigations that have been dropped by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The way the SFO works and the powers it has under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act in relation to interviews and documentation are examined by Aziz. He outlines how companies should investigate suspected wrongdoing and how they must conduct themselves when in discussions with the SFO. Aziz analyses the SFO’s “Corporate Co-operation Guidance’’, which was published last year, and emphasises the issues that are important when a company is looking to negotiate with the SFO in order to obtain a deferred prosecution agreement.

He said: “It was a privilege to be asked for the third year running to contribute to what is a respected and authoritative publication. It was also a chance for Rahman Ravelli as a firm to share some of its expertise in a way that can be helpful to those in business.’’

You can read Aziz’s chapter by visiting the ICLG website.