GIR Live DC: Topics and trends surrounding global investigations and enforcement

Forensic Risk Alliance was well represented at the 3^rd Annual GIR Live DC event this month at the law offices of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC. Among the more than 100+ registered delegates were Russell Miller, Masako Asaka and Mark Gonzalez to participate in the rich yet highly focused program.

Designed to provide a program covering current topics and trends surrounding global investigations and enforcement, the GIR Live DC event consisted of a stirring keynote speech given by John Gibson of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) followed by two panel discussions. Session one. Session two was a probative discussion about developments and emerging trends in multinational enforcement.

Citing GIR on Mr Gibson's comments, "The SFO case controller who led the authority's challenge to claims of privilege in ENRC has denied claims that the case undermines litigation privilege, in a keynote speech in which he also praised the authority's outgoing director, David Green. Additionally, SFO's case controller encouraged the soon-to-be-named incoming director to continue the authority's investment in artificial intelligence tools and data science professionals. Pursuant to its continuing effort to effectively and efficiently manage the growing corpus of cases reliant on the use of digital forensics technology, Mr Gibson's enthusiasm was palpable.

A few key take-away's from the panel discussions include:

• Ever-shifting legal precedence across enforcement authorities around the globe supports taking a cautious approach to the interview process of company personnel during internal investigations
• Acknowledgment of differing US and UK policies regarding attorney client privilege does, in fact, impact multinational investigations
• A robust debate remains regarding whether the SFO's protocol for handling DPA's is more effective than the US system that returns billions of dollars to the coffers of the US Treasury
• With the multiplicity of regulatory enforcements and as different countries adopt new laws, the more complex this landscape becomes
• Allocation of compliance resources and their close physical proximity to where issues may arise are key factors in meeting the test of an effective global compliance program