White Collar & Internal Investigations

Our lawyers represent individual and corporate clients faced with the increased use of criminal and regulatory enforcement to address business practices. Judge Holwell brings to bear his judicial experience in high-profile criminal cases as well as his substantial prior experience in private practice. HSG also benefits from the experience of Justice McGuire, who spent many years at the Manhattan District Attorney's office (including as deputy chief of appeals and as senior counsel to the Rackets Bureau) and who served as an appellate and trial-level judge in New York. As a firm, we have the experience and the judgment to conduct internal investigations on behalf of corporations, financial institutions, or their boards, and to represent and advise independent and special committees when faced with sensitive matters, whether in response to a shareholder demand or a regulatory or prosecutorial inquiry. The firm and its lawyers also serve as an independent monitor or consultant pursuant to settlement agreements, consent decrees, or similar arrangements.

Representative Matters

• Judge Holwell, with the assistance of HSG, acted as an independent monitor engaged by a large financial institution pursuant to an agreement between the institution and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Promontory Financial Group, in connection with an investigation by the New York Department of Financial Services over Promontory’s work for Standard Chartered, in which HSG negotiated a favorable settlement with the agency.
• Credit Lyonnais, MGM/United Artists, and the Government of France in two major United States grand jury investigations, a Federal Reserve Board investigation, and criminal suits in France and Italy, all relating to the Bank’s financing of the acquisition of the MGM/UA film studio and the Bank’s investment in the Executive Life Insurance Company.
• Internal investigation for a European bank facing potential Federal Reserve Board action, as well as potential criminal prosecution, as a result of rogue trading in its New York branch in interest rate swaps, CMOs, currency swaps, and various other financial instruments.
• Holly Sugar Corporation and MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd., a major steel producer and a major aluminum manufacturer, in connection with criminal grand jury investigations of price-fixing in, respectively, the sugar, paper, titanium, and aluminum industries. In two cases, Judge Holwell represented the client in subsequent plea negotiations and parallel treble damage class actions.
• Internal investigation for a European bank facing civil liability and potential criminal prosecution resulting from manipulation of global currency markets.
• While on the bench, Judge Holwell presided over numerous white collar cases involving insider trading, Ponzi schemes, market manipulations, mortgage frauds, corrupt foreign practices, and cross-border business frauds.