Agenda
Pre-Conference
March 13, 2024
Welcome Back Cocktail Reception
Co-Sponsored by
Day 1
March 14, 2024
Registration and Networking
Enjoy some breakfast, settle in and connect with your peers through a series of rotating roundtable discussions. This interactive, ice-breaking session will operate as a series of 25-minute Roundtable discussions – where the speakers and audience can switch tables thereafter for discussion on the other hot button issue. We will then hear from each of the Roundtable speakers as they provide us with a recap of the talking points and takeaways from each session
Artificial Intelligence in Investigations: How ChatGPT, Machine Learning and Holistic Authentication Tools Can Be Used in Asset Recovery Investigations
Jane ColstonPartner, Co-Practice Group Leader, Litigation & Arbitration Practice GroupBrown Rudnick LLP (UK)
Paul MitchellBarrister4 New Square (UK)
Roundtable Recap
Takeaways and Lessons Learned
Networking Break
Special Fireside Chat with MPC Prosecutors
Criminal Prosecution in Switzerland: State of Play and Focus on Asset Recovery
Valentina LavagnoProcureure Fédérale au Sein de L’unité Entraide Internationale et SpécialisteMinistère public de la Confédération MPC (Switzerland)
Cédric RemundProcureur Fédéral, Responsable du Domaine D’infractions « Criminalité économique généraleMinistère public de la Confédération MPC (Switzerland)
Contentious Cross-Border Insolvency & Restructuring: Acknowledgement and Enforcement of Insolvency in Foreign Jurisdictions
Jonathan AddoPartnerHarneys (British Virgin Islands)
Robin DartonPartnerTanner De Witt (Hong Kong)
Sheila NgPartnerRajah & Tann Singapore LLP (Singapore)
Costas StamatiouPartnerElias Neocleous & Co. LLC (Cyprus)
Cross border insolvency laws present a complex landscape within which fraud practitioners must navigate, with an eye towards foreign substantive law and an array of other foreign insolvency and fraud-related proceedings.
In this session, leading experts will provide us with updates on cross-border insolvency and restructuring laws in different global jurisdictions, including discussions on:
- Large-scale frauds with multiple victims and assets: Initiating and following insolvency claims simultaneously in more than one jurisdiction
- Navigating through global cross-border insolvency and restructuring laws
- Comprehensive strategies on debtor-side assignments and practical tips for handling complex and sophisticated creditor rights matters
- Initiating recovery efforts from corporate misconducts and sophisticated creditor rights matters
- How to utilize insolvency and restructuring as mechanisms for exposing fraud; as well as detecting and recovering assets
Networking Luncheon
Sponsored by
Eleanor CampbellBarristerOne Essex Court (UK)
Rachel Cropper-MawerPartnerClyde & Co. LLP (UK)
Martin KenneyHead of FirmMartin Kenney & Co (MKS) (British Virgin Islands)
A fraudster is the hare. An asset recovery team is the tortoise. The tortoise is slow and lumbering – and cannot catch the hare absent the use of utmost secrecy of its movements.
However, open justice and the rights of freedom of expression and to due process are core principles in a free and democratic society. Derogations can only be justified in exceptional circumstances. When can a Court cloak a disclosure order in ancillary secrecy orders? How is this question answered by the courts?
This panel will explore this important subject by discussing;
- Ex Parte Super Injunctions
- Sealing and Gagging Relief
- Anonymization Orders
- Temporary Suspension of the Adversarial Process
The panel will consider the availability of these pre-emptive remedies under English, BVI, U.S. and Brazilian law.
Ilias AnagnostopoulosPartnerAnagnostopoulos (Greece)
Benjamin BorsodiPartnerSchellenberg Wittmer Ltd (Switzerland)
Audrey ByrnePartnerMcCann FitzGerald LLP (Ireland)
John OxenhamManaging PartnerPrimerio (South Africa)
Piers de WildePartnerStoneTurn (UK)
Fraud is an increasingly common global delinquency, and it is therefore critical to have a procedure in place for the confiscation of assets as a way to restore criminal and civil justice. In addition, practitioners must collaborate with the necessary government or local law enforcement officials to exercise due diligence in enabling effective value-based and conviction-based asset forfeiture.
Join us in this informative and interactive discussion, as our panel of experts discuss the:
- Type of authorities in several jurisdictions that are entitled to confiscate (criminal, regulatory, other)
- Scope of confiscation in bribery and money laundering cases
- Limitations when the corporation has generated profits through legitimate business activities; versus profit that is generated from corruption
- Methods that are used to determine the magnitude of the confiscation (based on profits generated, costs to be accounted for, etc.).
- Procedures for the sharing of confiscation proceeds between jurisdictions
- Different types of resolution in these matters; and considerations for determining if there is still a place for trials in confiscation matters
Networking Break
Interactive Group Session
How to Handle the Heat: Navigating the Emotional Side of Fraud & Asset Recovery Disputes
Bettina KnoetzlPartnerKNOETZL (Austria)
Dmytro MarchukovPartnerINTEGRITES (Ukraine)
Grzegorz WoźniakManaging PartnerWoźniak Legal
Markus BrinkmannPartnerBDO Germany (Germany)
Given the often highly emotional side of Fraud and Asset Recovery disputes, parties – and their attorneys – frequently try to get rid of opposing counsel by commencing civil, criminal, and even disciplinary disputes against them.
Be sure to join us in this highly interactive session, as our panelists share stories about highly contentious matters they have experienced. We will then open up the discussion for audience members to share their thoughts and experiences, including discussions on:
- Is such behavior appropriate – particularly under a variety of differing bar rules in other jurisdictions?
- How to react if such proceedings are/may be initiated against you
Networking Drinks Reception
Day 2
March 15, 2024
Advisory Board Meeting (by invitation only)
Breakfast and Networking Lounge
Year-In-Review
Updates and Critical Issues That Practitioners are Facing: A Global Recap of the Most Pressing Challenges in Fraud and Asset Recovery
Yves KleinPartnerMonfrini Bitton Klein (Switzerland)
Mona VaswaniPartnerMilbank LLP (UK)
Sophie EyrePartnerBird & Bird (UK)
Oren WarshavskyPartnerBaker & Hostetler LLP (USA)
Dan WyattPartnerReynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP
Some of the trends and developments in relation to fraud and asset tracing over the past year have been unanticipated and challenging, and one of the important developments is that there has been a sizeable change in the form, value and sheer volume of fraud cases heard in many global courts.
Due to the different methods that fraudsters are utilizing to perpetrate their schemes, it is critical for practitioners to update their toolkits to recover for clients. Join us in this session as our panelists discuss:
- The advantages and drawbacks of entities being able to register digital assets in non-traditional asset havens
- Continuing challenges in locating assets hidden in multiple jurisdictions
- Strategies for pursuing assets housed within holding companies and subsidiaries
- The continuing influence and attempts at fraudulent executive appointments
- Newer resources and fraud prevention mechanisms that prosecutors have at their disposal when trying to enforce judgments and recover assets
- What can and cannot be done in global fraud hotspots
Andreas KrannichExecutive Vice President Integrity ServicesSportradar (Germany)
Saverio LemboPartnerBär & Karrer (Switzerland)
Vincent VenHead of Anti-Match-Fixing UnitUEFA (Switzerland)
Corruption has enveloped world football and, more specifically, the governing bodies that are supposed to keep things in some sort of order. This has been an ongoing issue for decades, but the frequency and severity of the fraud conducted by the governing bodies has become staggering.
Our panel of experts representing Sportradar and UEFA will address their biggest challenges; along with what has gone wrong over the years.
Extended Networking Break
Complex, High-Value Asset Recovery Cases: Practitioner Tips for Overcoming Vexing, High Stakes Obstacles
George AyoubPartnerSchellenberg Wittmer Ltd
Joanna BogdańskaPartnerKW Kruk & Partners Law Firm LP
Peter GrayPartner ADG Legal (United Arab Emirates)
Christopher A. NoelCounselSequor Law (USA)
Justina StewartBarrister Outer Temple Chambers (UK)
Most high-value fraud victims are concerned about how they can recover from the significant financial losses that they have suffered, and there is often a huge gap between orders of restitution and recovery of the actual amount lost or hidden. In many of these cases, there are significant barriers in the way of being compensated – including insolvency, jurisdictional hurdles, evidential challenges, and difficulty in tracing assets.
Moreover, when a high-value fraud involves a number of jurisdictions, it becomes a very complex landscape within which fraud practitioners must navigate, and requires focus and consideration of conflicting regimes, class priorities, foreign substantive law, and an array of other foreign insolvency and fraud-related proceedings.
Bring your questions, as our experts address some of the most pressing and difficult challenges that confront fraud and asset recovery practitioners in complex matters, such as:
- Challenges in selecting the right forum(s) and venue(s) to prevent delay, gain momentum and improve chances of asset recovery
- Issues with obtaining and serving freezing orders against unknown individuals and organizations
- What can be done to overcome a lack of cooperation between attorneys and enforcement authorities in the affected jurisdictions
- Handling the different approaches taken to disclosure & discovery in Civil and Common Law jurisdictions
Networking Luncheon
Shane CrooksPartnerBDO LLP (UK)
Jennifer FoxPartnerOgier (Cayman Islands)
Andrew McLeodBarrister One Essex Court (UK)
The use of court appointed or equitable receivers in fraud cases has evolved considerably in recent times. It is proving to be a particularly versatile and flexible tool and appointments are becoming more common to combat international fraud. Be sure to join us in this session as our panelists discuss what they see happening in their jurisdictions and beyond, the issues that commonly arise, and practical tips and steps that can be taken to make such orders effective and to advise clients impacted by them. We will discuss:
- Enforcement receivers v “litigation receivers” and the increasing use of the latter;
- Receivers in support of freezing orders and worldwide freezing orders;
- Receivers as an investigative tool, when are they used, what can they do and what are the limits?;
- Innovative use of receivers in fintech disputes and other jurisdictions
Laurence Emmett KCBarristerOne Essex Court (UK)
In an asset recovery case, it’s very important to identify the right tools to use; and gather all the pertinent information which more often than not lies outside the jurisdiction of the fraudster and the victim. The ability to identify and retrieve information from a wide array of sources which may be spread across numerous jurisdictions – and in different languages – is critical.
Join us in this unique and interactive session, as our speakers will provide an international perspective on the biggest challenges they experience in fraud and asset recovery matters, including an examination of the different approaches taken to disclosure & discovery in Civil and Common Law jurisdictions.
After the panel shares their perspectives on strategies that they have utilized in their jurisdictions, they will field questions from the audience on the possibilities of successfully pursuing fraud claims in jurisdictions with differing evidentiary and recovery challenges. Bring your questions and comments as we roll the mic through the audience.