Eversheds Sutherland has appointed Steve Smith as partner in the Corporate Crime and Investigations team. A prominent white-collar crime lawyer, Steve joins from financial services group Nomura International Plc where he was deputy head of financial crime for EMEA.
Smith was a senior lawyer in the FCA’s enforcement division and held senior roles within Barclays’ financial crime team. With over 17 years’ experience, Steve has a wealth of knowledge in white collar crime compliance, investigations and prosecutions having defended, prosecuted and latterly worked in in-house senior financial crime compliance roles.
Steve is highly experienced in dealing with allegations relating to fraud, corruption, tax evasion, criminal market abuse and money laundering. He also built a general crime practice defending in cases with a particular need for reputational management including acting for high-net-worth individuals and those working in regulated industries.
Earlier this year, Eversheds Sutherland appointed Zia Ullah as head of the Corporate Crime and Investigations Group. Zia will lead the team to enhance its criminal investigations capabilities with a particular focus on SFO, FCA and NCA investigations and also look to support his consulting colleagues with the growth of their remediation business.
Zia Ullah, Head of Corporate Crime and Investigations at Eversheds Sutherland’s, said:
“We welcome Steve, a highly skilled and talented lawyer to the team. Not only will he complement the existing strengths of the practice, his experience as a former FCA regulator and his in-house compliance insight, will help deliver a market leading offering for our clients. Given his additional experience of working in various financial crime compliance roles, Steve is very well placed to advise and defend MLROs in respect of financial crime compliance issues.”
Steve commented:
“This is an exciting opportunity to work alongside such highly-rated corporate crime lawyers. Financial crime compliance has become an increasingly complex and challenging regulatory environment to work in, and I will apply my unique insight to help those facing investigation and prosecution. I look forward to helping Eversheds Sutherland’s clients working in regulated roles to find robust, sustainable and commercial solutions to complex financial crime related issues.”
Steve’s appointment follows Eversheds Sutherland’s recent strategic hire of former SFO prosecutor Laura Dunseath who joined from Pinsent Masons.
Source: www.eversheds-sutherland.com
