Sarah Lambert-Porter

• Advising a leading global private equity firm in resolving a dual-track (civil and criminal) investigation by the FCA into alleged insider dealing and market abuse.
• Regularly advising leading global asset managers and private equity firms in relation to their reporting obligations and legal risks under applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations.
• Assisting a leading financial institution in conducting an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct by a senior executive (including data privacy violations, conflicts of interest, and improper workplace conduct) and by advising the client on its reporting obligations to the FCA.
• Advising a UK-listed multinational company with an internal investigation into suspected cross-border fraud, bribery, and money laundering and subsequent engagement with UK authorities.
• Assisting a leading financial institution in conducting an internal investigation into allegations of non-financial misconduct (including bullying, harassment, and retaliation) in Northern Europe and the UK.
• Advising clients in relation to the money laundering risk associated with ransomware cyber attacks.
• Advising a global commodities firm in relation to a whistleblowing report, conducting a related internal investigation, and engaging with a UK regulator following self-disclosure.
• Advising several US-listed multinationals (across various industry sectors) in relation to the EU Whistleblowing Directive and assorted EU Member States’ implementing legislation.
• Assisting with the conduct of an independent investigation into whistleblowing allegations of sexual misconduct by a senior manager of a UK fintech organisation and providing related advice to the organisation’s key investors.
• Advising individual employees of a global financial institution in respect of their compelled interviews by the FCA in connection with its investigation into concerns about the financial institution’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and financial crime compliance systems and controls.
• Advising multinational corporations in connection with their Modern Slavery Act 2015 policies and annual statements.
• Advising a syndicate of underwriters in relation to the financial crime risks involved in a NYSE IPO, and related pre-IPO acquisition, and pre-acquisition financing matters.
• Advising an individual employee of a global financial institution in respect of a compelled interview by the FCA in connection with its investigation into concerns about the financial institution’s sanctions-related policies, procedures, and systems and controls.
• Advising a global financial institution on a complex cross-border investigation involving the SEC, DOJ, FCA and SFO into potential money laundering and bribery offences.

Pro Bono:

• Leading role in the pro bono team supporting APPEAL (a charity law practice dedicated to rectifying miscarriages of justice) in a Court of Appeal case which led to successfully overturning a man’s wrongful conviction for rape after he had served over 17 years in prison.
• Leading role in assisting the Afghan Pro Bono Initiative (APBI) with an application and appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in relation to a family reunion case under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
• Assisting Lawyers Without Borders (LWOB) with training of magistrates, prosecutors, and investigating officers in East Africa on more effective investigating and prosecution of wildlife crime.

Experience prior to joining Ropes & Gray:

• Advising a global financial institution on a complex cross-border investigation involving the SEC, DOJ, FCA and SFO into potential money laundering and bribery offences.
• Advising several global financial institutions on the implementation of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, including a nine month secondment to one of them, in 2015.
• Advising a US-based multinational corporation active in the pharmaceutical/medical devices sector on a pan-European anti-bribery and corruption compliance program.
• Advising an international energy company in relation to anti-bribery and corruption, sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations ahead of its planned IPO/London Stock Exchange listing. This included designing a suite of ethics and anti-bribery and corruption policies, procedures and controls.
• Advising an NGO on the application of anti-bribery and corruption regulations to an initiative on which the NGO was collaborating with an African state. The initiative was designed to embed human rights due diligence through the application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the emerging oil and gas sector in that African state.
• Advising a global financial institution in the management, Maxwellisation and submission of an independent investigation report to a Channel Islands-based regulator in connection with sanctions avoidance and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing charges.
• Acting as a ‘Skilled Person’ (under Section 166 FSMA 2000) in relation to four interconnected FCA investigations into alleged breaches of listed company disclosure obligations, market abuse, misleading statements/practices and governance-related systems and control issues.