Join the ACi with Ankura and Fieldfisher for an interactive workshop considering the restrictions and best practices for addressing legal and reputational risks arising at different stages of the investigations life cycle. The case study central to the in-person workshop encompasses allegations of misconduct, cross-border data collection challenges, regulatory considerations, and potential corporate financial fraud.
Participants will be split into small groups to assess and analyse a scenario based on a blend of real-life cases, whereby a Senior Business Leader is the subject of whistle-blower reports alleging bullying and harassment, with some claims suggesting potential financial fraud. Our subject matter experts will support participants through the process of successfully planning a complex and multi-faceted investigation, by walking through the following areas:
How to achieve effective, efficient and lawful data collection and analysis;
Considering a proportionate scope, and setting up appropriate investigation governance;
Key preliminary considerations, such as considering and recording the position around legal professional privilege, stakeholder management, considering mandatory and non-mandatory self-reporting, determining the status of key individuals, and communicating with subjects and witnesses;
Methodology and top tips for interviewing, with a focus on discharging the corporate duty of care, maintaining psychological safety, and vulnerable witnesses; and
How best to evaluate exposure, and adjust investigation objectives with regards to the relevant (or potentially relevant) legislation, regulations, and rules, as new matters come to light, and new lines of enquiry present themselves.
Throughout this training, Fieldfisher and Ankura will share their experience, drawing parallels to the case study scenario. The training will also be an excellent opportunity for you to network with peers from various industries – both during the session, and afterwards, whilst sharing a drink on Fieldfisher’s terrace overlooking the Thames.
This June we are reaching out to members to see if they’d like to get more involved with building the ACi. As you’re aware, the Executive Committee at ACi are all volunteers, who have full-time in-house investigations roles. The popularity of the Association means we are always on the lookout for subject matter experts who are willing to share knowledge and experience, and for investigations professionals who want to give back to the profession by reaching out to their networks to expand ACi’s mission.
With the war in Ukraine bringing unprecedented EU sanctions (restricted measures) against Russia this expert panel will discuss what this means for corporate investigators charged with investigating potential sanctions breaches for companies operating within EU member states.
Christoph Haid, partner, Schoenherr
Christoph joined the law firm in January 2004. He is a member of the EU & Competition department and co-heads Schoenherr’s Compliance & Investigations teams. On the competition law side, he has since been involved in numerous high-profile merger control proceedings before the Austrian competition authorities and the European Commission, and coordinated global merger control filings, particularly in CEE, where his focal point of work is. On the compliance side, Christoph is frequently involved in supporting clients to implement comprehensive compliance programmes, investigate perceived misconduct and respond to emergency situations.
Karen Williamson, Director, Deloitte
Karen has spent more than 15 years’ working in Forensics and specialises in investigations, predominantly focused on the Financial Services industry, including spending one year on secondment to the Financial Services regulator in the UK, the FCA.
Karen is a highly experienced Forensic accountant and investigator starting her career in the UK, before moving to Switzerland in 2019. Karen advises clients on matters ranging from fraud and misconduct investigations; allegations of conflicts of interest; bribery and corruption investigations; to Panama papers exposure analysis; tax evasion; and accounting investigations.
Darya Chub, Sanctions Compliance Project Counsel, BAT
Darya is a member of Central Trade Compliance Team focusing on the recent sanctions regulation evolution with primary responsibility for sanctions compliance matters.
Darya joined BAT in 2005 in Uzbekistan and since then has been responsible for supporting and counselling various markets ( Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, Global Duty Free and UK) and functions on legal and compliance issues. In her previous role, she has been principally responsible for compliance programme in Asia-Pacific Area and Global Travel Retail. She has been instrumental in transformation of Global duty-free compliance framework, setting it as a best practice example, compliant with ABC, AML, AFC and international sanctions regulation.
Jeff Giddings
Jeff has over 26 years’ experience leading and performing internal and external corporate investigations in the corporate sector, various United Nation’s agencies, and other international organizations. Currently, he is the Senior Investigator and Head of Investigations for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization.
The Association of Corporate Investigators is delighted to announce its 2022 one-day symposium on Thursday, 10th November 2022 in London. Our last Symposium event was held in 2019 so we are looking forward to bringing our investigations community back together for a day of learning, networking and sharing experiences.
This year, we are kindly hosted by Allen & Overy at their London offices. This year’s theme is ‘Every Detail Matters’. As investigators ourselves, we know how paying attention to the detail is vital in an investigation. So whether that be an understanding of the rules around legal privilege, or giving a whistleblower due care and attention, it’s the investigator’s job to conduct their enquiries legally, ethically and professionally.
We have designed our event with the same attention to detail to bring you an agenda that will inspire and inform – featuring topics such as Greenwashing and Conduct Investigations, E-Discovery, Crypto Investigations, Investigations Trends and Interviewing Techniques.
The day has been built with plenty of time for networking so that you can meet your investigations peers and discuss best practices.
As always places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Member In Person Ticket – £99 GBP
Non-Member In Person Ticket – £199 GBP
On Thursday, 26th May ACi proudly hosted its first Banking Investigators Forum event, kindly sponsored by Forensic Risk Alliance. The event was attended by banking investigators from 80 different banks and covered a range of issues, all of which had been selected by delegates as points of interest.
Our prestigious speakers included:
Colin Bell, CEO, HSBC
Stephen M Kohn, Managing Partner, Kohn & Kohn LLP
Jonathan Shatford, Head of Investigations, JP Morgan EMEA
Madalina Florea, Head of SM?MRT Investigations, Lloyds Banking Group
Michael Delf, Global Employee Conduct Director, Citibank
Charlie Steele, Partner, FRA
Dave Francis, Head of Litigation & Investigations, NatWest Bank Plc
Lorene Wiggin, Managing Investigator, NatWest Bank Plc
Gerben Schreurs, Partner, FRA
Jamie Brown, Executive Director, Head of Fraud Intelligence and Investigations, Standard Chartered Bank
Paul Carroll, Manager, Fraud Inestigations, Intelligence & Policy, TSB
Ronan Guckian, Deputy Head, Financial Crime Unit, KBC Bank
Magdalena Boskik, Head of RegTech and Crypto Compliance Services, Sygnum Bank
Katerina Androutsou, RegTech & Crypto Compliance Services, Sygnum Bank
Robert Clarke, Managing Director, Global Head of Investigations, Citibank
Cecillie Fjellhoy, romance scam victim
During the day, delegates grappled with a range of issues such as whether investigative interviews should always be recorded, the current crypto landscape and what it means for investigators, and skills and tools that investigators should have for successful outcomes.
The day was ably managed by Simon Scales who had the delegates giggling in their seats with his engaging and witty moderating style.
Feedback from attendees has been outstanding. For example one delegate said,
“The event was run really efficiently, the venue was excellent but mostly important the speakers and subject matter was just brilliant. Often I see people on their phones at lot at these events catching up with emails etc but as I looked around, like myself everyone was listening intently. It really was one of the best conferences I have attended in many years (ignoring the pandemic). Thanks to everyone involved, with a little special mention to Simon who I thought was amazing as an MC.Already looking forward to the next one, please keep my details within your database. I will be selling the events for you as I speak with all of my bank investigator contacts throughout the whole industry. So many of them would have benefitted and enjoyed yesterday.”
You can read our event programme here. Thank you to everyone involved especially our sponsor Trevor Wiles and the FRA team, Simon Scales, our speakers and not least of all the delegation who made it such a special event.
In this short video extract ACi members briefly discuss the Principles
ACi is delighted to announce the launch of its new Investigations Principles and Good Practice Guidelines guidance. This is the first wide-reaching practitioner-led Principles and good practice guidance developed for the global corporate investigations profession. These foundational Principles and Guidelines are the culmination of working group discussions with a highly diverse group of corporate investigation subject matter experts, both in-house and external, from various industries and sectors. They are intended to help guide the work of corporate investigators.
The ACi would like to thank all those who contributed subject matter expertise in our working groups, and our group leads Mary Eastwood Jones, Jeff Giddings, Patrick Wellens and content creator Esther-Gail Fraser. The following are some quotes from our members about the importance of our Investigation Principles.
Jeff Giddings, Senior Investigator at OSCE said, “Core principles and guidelines are foundations for a successful corporate investigative function. The ACi Principles and Good Practice Guidelines are fusions taken across the wide spectrum of ACi members. Given the multitude of industries represented in the ACi, it was a challenge in getting consensus for having succinct, yet inclusive, principles and guidelines. To my knowledge, this has never been accomplished until now, which demonstrates the strength and commitment of the ACi and its members. This is truly trailblazing.”
Patrick Wellens, Investigations Expert said,”The creation of the new Principles and Good Practice Guidelines fits perfectly in the mission of the ACi to professionalize Corporate Investigations. It is a major achievement to now have a common set of Standards and Good Practice Guidelines that can be applied across Corporate Investigators in any industry. I am personally very proud to have actively contributed to these documents.”
Ash Sharma, Group Investigations Manager, Anglo American, said, “Corporate Investigation is a unique profession. The Corporate Investigator might be asked to investigate financial crime, physical or psychological safety, health or environmental breaches, data and cybercrime amongst others. Corporation Boards, employees, investors, customers and the wider community expect the highest standards from these investigators. The ACi will ensure these expectations are met by educating, supporting and mentoring their members. The release of the ACi Principles and Good Practice Guidelines is an exciting achievement for the profession. I am proud to be part of this community and support the evolution of the profession.”
Steve Young, CEO, ACi, said, “Investigators are bound by the moral imperative to find the true facts. For me, the ACi principles underpin this obligation, which we all carry as members of the corporate investigations community. “
Mary Eastwood Jones, ED, ACi added, ‘The work we do carries great responsibility to establish the facts ethically- the consequences of a poorly or unfairly executed investigation can be devastating for the people and organisations involved. I am proud to be part of this first practitioner-led foundational project and am so grateful to all in our community who have collaborated and reached consensus to make this possible. The Investigation Principles are integral to conducting robust and ethical investigations, and are essential on our journey to professionalising corporate investigations.’
The nature of corporate communication is shifting, and that rate of change is accelerating—new channels and data types are continuously springing and it’s becoming increasingly easy for it all to be recorded and archived… somewhere. But how do you target and capture only the relevant information and quickly make sense of it when you do? The complexity and volume are now simply beyond human ability to keep up with.
In this session, experts will talk through the cutting-edge techniques and tools that are being applied to sift through rising data volumes from a host of different communication platforms and show you how in-house teams are easily applying powerful AI to zero in on and simply review the data most relevant to your matter.
Corporate investigation experts from Capital One and Lam Research will join to discuss the rising challenges they are seeing and how they are adapting their investigations practices.
Amelia is the Senior Manager, Product Marketing – Corporate Solutions at Relativity where she oversees the product marketing function for the corporate segment. With a background in finance, sales, strategic partnerships and marketing, Amelia is passionate about understanding the market and finding the most effective and resonant ways to meet customer needs. Always seeking to learn more, Amelia holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern University.
Ben DeWitt, Senior Manager, Cyber Insider Threat & Technical Investigations eDiscovery at Capital One
Ben DeWitt is the eDiscovery Lead for Capital One’s Cyber Insider Threat and Investigations Program. With 15 years of eDiscovery experience, Ben and his team have a primary focus on the collection, processing, and analysis of evidence and the administration of technology solutions. He collaborates with investigative and legal partners to develop strategy for technology and workflows in support of internal investigations, government investigations, and corporate litigation matters. Ben is a certified Relativity Expert and Brainspace Analyst.
Nolan Robinson, Program Manager, Legal Operations at Lam Research
Kristin Sunderman, Litigation Support Director, Freddie Mac
Kristin Sunderman is the Litigation Support Director at Freddie Mac. Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Ms. Sunderman spent the last 20+ years in the industry working not only for law firms and corporations but also as an eDiscovery vendor. It is in the vendor world that Ms. Sunderman spent the bulk of her career. She started off in project management but quickly worked up to managing all of Operations. It is there that she focused on creating efficiencies, implementing automation and providing a development path for new eDiscovery specialists. Ms. Sunderman continues to focus on process improvements and development in her new role and prides herself on being heavily involved in mentorship and inclusion programs.
Moderator
Simon Scales
Simon’s extensive international experience in corporate investigations includes significant Employee Misconduct, Fraud, Bribery, Corruption, Antitrust & Competition, AML, Sanctions, Market Abuse and commensurate preventative / remedial measures. His 30 years of expertise in major investigation management, covert and overt intelligence gathering, relationship and stakeholder management, Ethics / Compliance / Integrity related investigations and reviews demonstrate his proven ability to facilitate consensus through negotiation and collaborate with senior management across all geographies. Simon is a visiting lecturer to a number of UK Universities and has articles published in leading UK, EU and US journals, newspapers and other international media, including Global Investigations Review, The Times (UK), The Guardian (UK), Le Monde (France), Washington Post (US) and the Law Society (UK). Having appeared on the BBC and CNN, he has provided editorial content and testimonies for those writing about the world of Fraud, Bribery and Corruption, and is in demand for his knowledge, experience and unique approach. Simon chairs significant industry recognised conferences on the subjects of Fraud, Bribery, Corruption, Ethics, Risk Management, Internal Control, IPR, Identity Theft, eCrime and Corporate Security.
La Asociación de Investigadores Corporativos (ACI) se complace en anunciar su primer evento para Latinoamérica para el día jueves 31 de marzo de 2022, el cual será auspiciado por Control Risks y desarrollará un marco general sobre las tendencias, casos más comunes y desafíos de las Investigaciones en el ámbito corporativo presentados en los diversos países de la región.
Enrique Gómez-Pinzón is the executive partner of Holland & Knight’s office in Colombia. He practices in the areas of compliance and internal investigations, cross-border investment and financings, mergers and acquisitions, international arbitration and project finance. Mr Gómez-Pinzón has assisted clients in coordinating internal investigations and crisis mangement response for several multinational companies with operations in Colombia. He has participated in some of the most important financings and privatizations in Colombia in the last 30 years, including licensing of cellular telephones, banking entities, power generating and distribution companies, and transportation of petroleum. He has served as an arbitrator in a variety of cases administered by ICSID, ICC, PCA, CIETAC, cases administered under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. Mr Gómez-Pinzón is the sole founder and former head of one of the leading law firms in Colombia. He received his JD from Universidad de Los Andes and an LLM from Harvard University Law School in Massachusetts. He is admitted to practice law in Colombia, the State of New York and Washington, DC.
Lucas Martins – Clarios / Deputy Legal Counsel LATAM
Lucas joined JCI in 2014 as Senior Corporate Counsel, Litigation LATAM and in 2018, was appointed Senior Corporate Counsel for Brazil Power Solutions. He has extensive experience working in Brazil and LATAM countries and has focused his practice onlitigation, risk management, law department management, recoveries and business strategy. Lucas started his legal career in Sao Paulo with TozziniFreire Advogados in 1999 with a broad spectrum of litigation and arbitration cases. After working in private practice, he joined Duke Energy Brazil, as Litigation Manager in 2009. At Duke Energy, he progressively assumed more challenging roles, including real estate and environmental, compliance and investigations. In 2014 Lucas become Senior Corporate Counsel, Litigation LATAM in Johnson Controls’ Sao Paulo office, providing commercial litigation for all of JCI`s businesses in LATAM. He progressively assumed more senior roles in law department management, recoveries, material Labor & Employment matters and business partner of Power Solutions in Brazil. Lucas has a very hands-on profile, balanced with ethical and legal compliance standards and a sense of constant cooperation and partnership with business colleagues and team members. His greatest professionalsatisfaction is to deliver timely customer-centric work that drives business growth and he is passionate about supporting the development of his team members and colleagues. Since joining JCI, Lucas has received client recognition through several performance assessments and more recently, a Merit Award for material recoveries. He graduated Johnson Controls Leadership Edge Program (JCLE) in 2018. Lucas graduated from Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo in 2001 and concluded the Master of Laws on Civil Law in 2008 He has been Professor of Civil Law and Civil Procedural Law in Brazilian and Post-Graduation Courses from 2009 to 2014 and is registered with Sao Paulo Bar Association.In his free-time, Lucas enjoys off-roading, spending time with his family, participating in triathlons and travelling. His native language is Portuguese and is fluent in English and Spanish.
Nelly Arocha – Control Risks / Director – Compliance, Forensics and Investigations
Nelly Arocha is a Director in Control Risks’ Compliance, Forensics and Intelligence practice, based in Mexico City. Nelly is a lawyer with experience across a variety of industries both during her time with the Mexican federal government and as a consultant for Control Risks, where she has had experience conducting complex internal investigations into national and multinational companies. Nelly has more than 15 years of experience in several government postings that include the President’s Office, the Federal Institute for Transparency and Access to Public Information and the Ministries of Education and of Communications and Transport, among others. At the Federal Electoral Institute, she participated in conducting investigations in two of the largest campaign finance cases in Mexico. Additionally, as head of the Internal Control Office at a government agency, she was responsible for auditing federal expenditures and monitoring the implementation of internal controls to ensure the efficiency of the institution and prevent corruption. Her areas of expertise includes transparency and government reform, data protection, government accountability, investigations and audit. In addition to graduating as a lawyer from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Nelly holds a MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a MSC in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
Juliana Marcucci Pontes Amaral es abogada especializada en derecho civil, gestión empresarial e investigaciones internas. Al largo de su carrera de 20 años, ha trabajado en estudios de abogados y desde 2009 se encuentra en Mercado Livre, donde estuvo a frente del área estratégica de Dispute Resolutions en Legales hasta 2021, cuando fue a Compliance implementar el área de investigaciones internas.
Moderator
Nestor Garrido, Head of LATAM, ACi
Nestor is a Senior Corporate Security Executive with over 23 years of professional experience in Crisis Management, Product Security, External and Internal Fraud and Compliance Investigations. From 1996 to 2005, Nestor worked in the Investigations Unit of Peruvian Navy. He started his career in the private sector in 2006 as Security Manager Peru at Novartis, conducting Compliance and Illicit Pharmaceutical investigations. After 7 years in Novartis, Nestor joined Mondelez Peru as Security Manager. Since December 2018, Nestor is currently Head of Security Peru at the multinational energy company Enel managing and overseeing Critical Event Management, Fraud Investigations and Critical Infrastructure Security. Nestor also develop training in Crisis Management, Risk Management and Corporate Investigations in association with Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (BASC). He is a Certified ISO 31000 Lead Risk Manager by Professional Evaluation and Certification Board (PECB), Member of ASIS International and ACFE.
This year, in support of the International Women’s Day 2022 campaign #breakthebias, ACi is collecting quotes, anecdotes and thoughts from our corporate investigation community on working with, hiring, promoting or supporting women in corporate investigations, or your experiences as a woman working in corporate investigations and how we can all break the gender bias. You can read all about the campaign here.
Please share your views with us – just click the button below to send us your quote.
You can also register for our #Breakthebias Women’s Day event. It takes place on Wednesday 8th March 2022 from 12.00 pm – 1.30 pm. Click here to see details of our women panellists and register for your free place.
As we launch into 2022, ACi wishes all our members and supports a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year ahead.
We are working hard to bring you more innovative training, networking and education events this year. While the Pandemic continues to disrupt the usual working practices of investigators, our community is continuing to adapt and evolve, learn new skills and tackle investigations challenges in new ways.
ACi is here to support its members and we appreciate the commitment of our members and our sponsors to help grow our community and to improve investigations standards. Watch this space for news of our upcoming events – to be announced very soon!
