Plesner provides advice on all aspects of corporate criminal law in connection with regulatory supervision, control and enforcement, including by representing clients as defence counsel or by assisting clients who have been exposed to crime. We also have extensive experience conducting various types of investigations, including internal investigations and legal investigations.
The Danish business sector increasingly faces stricter and more stringent regulation in a number of legal areas such as capital market law (securities trading, market abuse, insider trading, price manipulation, etc), competition law (cartels, pricing agreements, etc), taxes and duties, personal data and international trade.
Plesner has extensive experience in a wide range of areas of corporate law, and we advise clients in all stages of proceedings:
- We provide advice for the purpose of preventing crime, for example preparation of procedures in relation to anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, establishment of whistleblower schemes, preparatory procedures in the event of searches/dawn raids.
- We assist in preparing and conducting investigations, including when there is a suspicion of irregularities/criminal offences in an organisation. The nature of an investigation depends on the client's specific requirements and may consist of an internal investigation or a proper legal investigation.
- Our team has significant experience and is among the leading Danish law firms which assist clients by representing them and/or acting as defence counsel in regulatory matters, for instance if an organisation or members of management are to be defended against a public authority, or where clients need assistance to be able to pursue potential criminal conduct.
Read more about our practice areas in the links to the right.
Plesner's team
Plesner's team consists of highly qualified and experienced lawyers who are able to draw on specialist assistance from the firm's many practice areas, including EU and Competition Law, Tax Law, Data Protection Law, Banking and Finance, Operational Compliance, Export Control and Trade Sanctions, Capital Markets.
Senior Advisor Jens Madsen - former head of the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime/the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and subsequently head of the Estonia investigations at Danske Bank - has considerable experience from the police and from the prosecution service. Therefore Plesner has unique knowledge of investigatory methods and processes, criminal procedure, and the interaction with international criminal law.
Our team has experience in project management and in working with large sets of data, coordinating teams, reporting regularly, etc. Add to this such crisis management as may necessarily be required in the various stages of proceedings, including discussions regarding internal communication and potential press handling. In addition to our teams of lawyers and attorneys, our highly specialised in-house economists can provide complex financial analyses, and we work closely with auditors and foreign attorneys.
Highlights - Corporate Criminal Law
- Thomas Borgen (former CEO of Danske Bank A/S) - defence counsel in connection with the criminal inquiry into money laundering in Danske Bank's former Estonia branch
- Morten Messerschmidt - defence counsel in connection with criminal proceedings concerning alleged fraud involving EU funds and document fraud
- Defence counsel for car importer - in Denmark's first criminal proceedings against a Danish undertaking for breach of the rules on hidden advertising by use of influents
- Defence counsel for financial undertaking - in cases relating to breach of the Danish Criminal Code and compliance with special legislation, including the Danish Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Danish Financial Business Act
- Defence counsel in tax disputes
Highlights - Investigations
- Dagbladet Børsen - advisor in connection with a legal investigation concerning Dagbladet Børsen's receipt of media subsidy during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Danske Bank - advice and investigations in relation to Danske Bank's debt collection system
- Finansiel Stabilitet - legal investigation in relation to AML-issues in (the former bank) Københavns Andelskasse carried out when Finansiel Stabilitet took control
- The Danish Conservative Party - legal investigations commenced by the Danish Conservative Party in relation to (former) party member Naser Khader due to alleged sexual harassment
