Jean Tamalet (King & Spalding): “The evolution of business ethics over the last twenty to thirty years has been tremendous”

Leaders League: A number of white-collar crime scandals involving European businesses surfaced in 2023, many linked to the Pandora papers investigation. Does this point to a failure of internal auditing and investigations at the company level or something more systemic, in the corporate culture, that needs rooting out?

Jean Tamalet: First of all, the Pandora papers came from an investigation led by journalists, and when a fraud is revealed by journalists, it might be considered as a good thing for democracy, but it is a sign that there has been a failure of internal control in the companies concerned, rather than a failure of investigation, be- cause many successful investigations have come after the journalists’ revelations.

On the other hand, it is also a sign of a major change in corporate culture, and, in this regard, we can say that it is systemic. Looking in the rear-view mirror, we can say that the evolution of business ethics over the last twenty to thirty years has been tremendous. International treaties, OECD reports, EU and national legislation pushed forward in that direction.

The collaboration between jurisdictions, regulators, agencies encourages law firms to improve their practice in assisting companies with more accurate internal audits and investigations. 

White-collar crime lawyers often represent high-profile clients. How best to cope with the full glare of the media spotlight?
Public relations and crisis communication are part of crisis management that includes the criminal defense strategy when assisting a high-profile client facing a high level of responsibility/liability. Today, a white-collar lawyer must be able to deal with communication and needs to be trained by a public-relation professional to use the most appropriate wording when facing a reporter who is going to ask tricky questions.

Today, journalists working on these high-profile white-collar cases specialize in these intricate proceedings and are highly skilled at asking loaded questions. What’s more, they often have access to the file, sometimes more than the lawyer himself. Nevertheless, you have to adapt, choose your words wisely and follow a strategic line that supports your defense line. 

What upcoming pieces of French/EU legislation related to white-collar crime have the most potential impact? 
Obviously, anti-corruption, tax fraud and anti-money laundering in Europe and in France are at the top of my list. Over the last fifteen years or so, European legislation has improved in a way that has completely changed the mindset of CEOs, general counsel and compliance officers. We are likely to see a crescendo increase in complex criminal proceedings with cybersecurity and cryptocurrencies as their underlying theme.

European anti-corruption legislation has improved in a way that has completely changed the mindset of CEOs, general counsel and compliance officers

With nearly 800 procedures in progress, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office is accelerating the pace by applying a very broad criminal policy, but also by strengthening the accessibility and transparency of settlement agreements (CJIP).

We also continue to observe a strengthening of international judicial cooperation, making exchanges between prosecutors from different countries involved in multi-jurisdictional procedures much more fluid.

The acceleration of normative requirements in terms of compliance therefore has the corollary of an increase in the powers of regulators and their ability to cooperate at the international level to better pursue companies that do not comply with these requirements. 

What makes King & Spalding’s white-collar crime practice (and more particularly, the Special Matters & Government Investigations unit) stand out?
King & Spalding’s Special Matters and Government Investigations practice has developed over the last few decades in a wide variety of high-level white-collar cases in many locations around the world.

I joined the firm four years ago to develop this practice here. What makes us different from other firms is that we have many former prosecutors (more than 40) and professionals from different regulators and government agencies in our teams around the world.

We take a pragmatic approach, knowing the jurisdictions, prosecutors and regulators that are working on our clients’ cases. We know how the other side works, so we adapt our defense system and the training we give our clients for any hearings or interviews. Having a long-standing, high-level practice in international investigations is very helpful when working on a complex, multi-jurisdictional, international white-collar matters, which is what we specialize in.

Additionally, we work all over the world, through our 24 offices and dozens of local best-friends. Here in France, while we regularly assist many companies facing the risk of criminal prosecution, we also assist individuals, CEOs or founders of international companies facing major difficulties and criminal prosecution. We do this with the constant and daily support of the entire Special Matters team around the world and of course other departments supporting the underline aspect of the case.

While many large law firms sometimes work on criminal cases, they have very impressive compliance-oriented teams. We can say that we have a white-collar team that can work on international investigations and compliance with the real day-to- day experience of courts and prosecutors; on an international basis this can make all the difference when high-profile clients are being concretely prosecuted or investigated. 

Could you walk us through a major white-collar crime case you have acted in during the past couple of years, and explain where you and your firm’s skills made a difference to the outcome?
Discretion and confidentiality are at the heart of our practice. Nevertheless, some of our clients' criminal cases are in the limelight, such as the defense of Carlos Ghosn, in which we have been involved for four years. We assist other high-profile individuals facing international complex multi-jurisdictional prosecutors. For instance, we advise Armando Pereira, Founder of Altice Group.

Clients need a team that can coordinate with all the lawyers and participate in drawing up a global strategy that makes sense in front of prosecutors who are used to all working together through the international judicial cooperations.