Special Focus: White Collar Crime
Global perspective on crime
If 2013 was about raising
awareness of the extent of
white collar crime across Iberia
and proposing key legislation
to strengthen regulatory
provisions, 2014 is about
businesses and law
firms moving beyond
just speculation. And,
against a backdrop of
internationalisation,
finding out what fulfilling
anti-corruption obligations means
in the current economy.
Over the last year, Iberian law firms have
seen a continued increase in corruption in
both the public and private sectors, through
embezzlement, tax fraud, money laundering
and disloyal administration – and from the
top down. “There has been an increase,
not only in the number of these corruption
cases, but the pressure on the Authorities
to prosecute,” explains Alfredo Guerrero,
a Litigation Partner at King & Wood
Mallesons SJ Berwin, referring to growing
public concern about the investigation and
punishment of white collar crimes.
In the last year, Spain has seen numerous
investigations, highlights of which include
the ongoing alleged illicit financing of the
political party PP, the proceedings launched
against the public company Pescanova,
the Bárcenas Affair, the Bankia criminal
investigation, and a case that is currently
making the headlines around the world – the
Infanta Cristina summoned over fraud.
In Portugal, there has been the welldocumented ‘Face Oculta’ – the ongoing
and far-reaching political corruption, money
laundering and corporate tax evasion
scandal, and the first formal accusations in
the long running ‘Hurricane Operation’. Post2010 has also seen criminal investigations into
the rating agencies and the companies trained
in securities related to market manipulation
and insider trading, some of which are now
coming to court.
Navigating international waters
From a cross-border perspective, the
economic and financial crisis has intensified
52 • IBERIAN LAWYER • January / February 2014
international business relations within
the EU and beyond, as Iberian businesses
internationalise their operations in emerging
economies to aid growth. This is bringing
with it complex criminal activity against
information systems and other forms of
cybercrime, leading to extraditions or criminal
proceedings and judicial investigations.
“These crimes are particularly sophisticated
and often involve several jurisdictions,”
explains Sofia Ribeiro Branco, a Litigation &
Arbitration Partner at Vieira de Almeida. “It
means that law firms dealing with this crossborder paradigm are having to adopt a global
perspective on disputes.”
But while there is concern, international or
Spanish companies are very used to dealing
with cross-border issues, says Bernardo
del Rosal, Of Counsel at Clifford Chance in
Madrid. Lawyers too are successfully meeting
the challenge to help businesses carefully
navigate cross-border anti-corruption rules
and regulations, which are as numerous as
they are complex.
There is also increasing pressure on being
able to know and familiarise themselves with
international treaties and instruments of
judicial cooperation. “Our lawyers are always
having to review internal policies related to
anti-bribery,” says Corporate Crime Partner
Paulo de Sá e Cunha from Cuatrecasas,
Gonçalves Pereira, Lisbon. Furthermore,
understanding the laws and trends in
different countries is becoming easier with
an increasing number of Iberian law firms
leveraging the advantages of having an office
and joint venture abroad.
Portugal’s progress
Over the last year, the fight against white
collar crime has led to Portugal and Spain
aligning parts of their legal framework with
EU Directives.
There has been a significant piece of
national legislation in Portugal with regards
to the prevention of the use of the financial
system for the purposes of white collar crime.
Having established preventive and repressive
measures on combating money laundering
and terrorism (expected to be enacted shortly)
financial institutions will have additional
obligations to fulfil. In addition, there has
also been an amendment to the Taxation Law
within the recently approved State Budget
modifying the law.
“There were some crimes that could
have decisions of conviction discharged if
the amount was paid by the debtor,” says
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