White Collar Defense & Investigations

Cahill’s White Collar Defense practice offers exceptional depth and breadth of government and trial experience. Our practice is chaired by Anirudh Bansal, a former federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York. During his government service, Anirudh supervised thousands of cases and conducted scores of criminal trials.

Our White Collar Defense practice is top-ranked by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation. Three Cahill partners have been recognized by Law360 for their achievements tied to White Collar matters.

Cahill frequently handles bet-the-company investigations and criminal matters for individuals and corporations, including global financial institutions. Our team represents leading companies and their boards and committees in white collar cases involving alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Bank Secrecy Act, accounting fraud, commercial bribery laws, anti-money laundering laws and regulations of The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). We have managed investigations involving cryptocurrency, wire and mail fraud, healthcare fraud, tax fraud, alleged violations of the False Claims Act, hacking and data breaches, along with harassment and other forms of workplace misconduct. We also have a long track record conducting antitrust and price fixing investigations in markets including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, automotive, consumer goods, homebuilding, and tobacco.  Clients have included the Audit Committee of Walmart, electric carmaker Tesla, global banks Credit Suisse and UBS, and other financial institutions including leading investment banks and global hedge funds and asset managers with billions under management.

Select Representative Matters:

Institutional

• Walmart’s Audit Committee in the multi-year investigation by the DOJ and SEC into the Company’s global FCPA compliance and allegations of corruption.
• HSBC Holdings plc in multi-year investigations by the DOJ, OFAC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank, District Attorney of New York County, and the U.K. Financial Services Authority concerning various issues, including the bank's global dollar clearing services and Bank Secrecy Act compliance.
• Standard & Poor's in connection with the investigation by and settlement with the Attorney General of New York relating to its ratings of securities backed by subprime mortgages and related litigation.
• A global financial institution in SEC and CFTC Enforcement inquiries involving employees’ use of personal devices to send business-related text messages.
• An internal investigation for a global asset manager into the conduct of a senior executive accused of violating sanctions and national security-related statutes.
• A global bank in an SEC Enforcement investigation into a delisted financial product, which concluded in a closing letter after a successful Wells submission.
• An international bank in a Federal Reserve Bank Enforcement investigation, resulting in the closure of the investigation.
• A pharmaceutical company in connection with the SEC’s investigation of and pending lawsuit against a hedge fund adviser, and his investment advisory firm.
• A global financial institution in an SEC enforcement inquiry and internal investigation related to an employee’s potential dissemination of material nonpublic information.
• A national financial institution in an investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into lending practices in the New York City taxi medallion industry.
• A global bank in a CFTC Enforcement swaps trading investigation, which resulted in no enforcement action against the bank.
• An international bank in DOJ and FINRA investigations of the bank’s trading in certain products, resulting in no penalties being levied against the client.
• A global FinTech company, related entities, and certain directors, accused of fraud and other violations of federal securities.
• A global financial institution in a state attorney general’s office probe into loan securitizations.
• A company in a cross-border internal investigation into alleged omissions in statements made to foreign regulators.
• A prominent non-profit organization in an internal investigation surrounding accusations of sexual misconduct by one of its employees.
• A wealth management firm in an SEC enforcement action alleging securities fraud for failure to disclose certain fees and compensation.
• A company in an internal investigation related to personal misconduct and policy violations by numerous senior executives.
• An alternative investment firm relating to alleged insider trading scheme.
• A global bank and three of its employees in a FINRA best execution inquiry.
• A manufacturer and certain employees in connection with an SEC investigation and related class action.
• Several major banks in connection with SEC investigations and civil litigation arising out of the structuring and/or management of CDOs.
• Numerous Fortune 50 companies in criminal grand jury investigations of alleged antitrust violations.

Individual

• An individual (Ilya Lichtenstein) who was charged in the District of Columbia with laundering more than $4 billion in cryptocurrency – the largest financial fraud ever charged by the Department of Justice.
• A former partner at an accounting firm charged with wire fraud in the Southern District of New York, who was ultimately sentenced to time served.
• The former COO of a cryptocurrency fund in investigations conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and SEC Enforcement into a Ponzi scheme allegedly carried out by the fund’s founder, resulting in no charges being filed against the client.
• The co-founder of an international finance firm charged in the Southern District of New York in an alleged $100mm+ scheme to defraud investors by overvaluing and creating fake loans.
• The chairman and four other former directors of a provider of outsourcing solutions, as well as senior executives, in multiple litigations relating to the collapse of the company.
• A former asset manager charged in the Southern District of New York in a $63mm securities fraud scheme.
• The former CEO and founder of a publicly traded company in a securities fraud investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the SEC.
• The co-founder of a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange platform in an SEC Enforcement investigation.
• A prominent business owner charged with money laundering in the Southern District of New York.
• Witnesses before Congressional committees on topics ranging from corporate scandals to regulatory initiatives affecting the capital markets.