Company Compliance: How to Conduct Internal Investigations (Germany)

Compliance is a topic that affects all companies constantly. Violations – particularly those against other employees – are to be clarified and resolved by the company. Not only are internal investigations essential to comply with potential company guidelines. They are also crucial in the light of the company’s public image.

This training session will show companies how to conduct internal investigations in a structured and target-oriented manner. That includes the necessary steps for companies during the investigation process, such as conducting hearings, the documentation of violations, meeting the necessary deadlines, all labour law measures, and the preparation of a final report. Another focus area of the training session lies in the proper handling of whistleblowers and implementation of whistleblower-systems within the latest legal regulations. It is especially important to be up to date with the current legislation to avoid fines.

The training session invites all participants to take part actively. Apart from the legal background, it will also focus on communication skills and techniques.

Dawn Raid Readiness

Preparing for a Dawn Raid requires a multi-faceted approach. Your business needs the tools and knowledge to implement an effective plan. In the event of an unannounced inspection, would you and your business know what to do?

Our Dawn Raid Preparation Package has the fundamental elements to help ensure your firm is ready for a dawn raid by a range of UK and EU regulators – the European Commission, CMA, HMRC, SFO, FCA and others.

We have three training options available, which can be tailored specifically to your team. Please note that there may be a fee for these trainings.

Option 1 – Testing dawn raid procedures at your office reception

• Two lawyers from BCLP would attend the reception to conduct a limited mock dawn raid, just testing the current procedures in place for initial actions to be taken by the reception staff in the event of a raid.
• We would feed back to you in terms of what worked well and what could be improved.

Option 2 – Standard dawn raid preparedness training

• We can deliver the training in person or virtually. We would recommend the training is given to the legal team, and others that may have a central role on the day (e.g., IT, front office leads).
• Our training (60 to 90 minutes) covers recent developments relevant to dawn raids (including application to hybrid working), and includes a case study. It would also include a Q&A session. We would make available the dawn raid app to the attendees after the session.

Option 3 – Dawn raid “wargame”/”role play” day

• The BCLP team would attend your office to conduct a simulated dawn raid wargame, which is anticipated to take around 3 hours. We would agree a scenario with you in advance. We would walk through the stages of a mock dawn raid based on your current procedures. We would finish with a wrap up session, feeding back to you on the effectiveness of the current procedures and potential improvements.
• We would suggest that key stakeholders from the Legal, IT, Reception teams (with perhaps business leads being available to be called) participate in the role play.
• We would formalise the conclusions of the day by providing recommended amendments to the current procedures.
• We would also deliver bespoke training to staff on a subsequent date, building on learnings from the wargame day.

Financial Crime Refresher 2022

This session will help you get to grips with the latest developments in financial crime law and practice. We will discuss rising financial crime risks and provide practical advice on risk prevention strategies.

Getting to YES – Negotiations with the Works Council (Germany)

Despite the principle of cooperation based on trust, problems and disputes between employer and works council often arise in practice. When confrontation instead of cooperation is on the agenda, the question of how existing conflicts can be resolved best arises. Because conflicting interests clash here, the occurrence of disputes lies in the nature of things. While the works council is in the camp of the employees, the employer represents its corporate interests. Conflicts with the works council waste time and money. This workshop provides employers with help on how best to negotiate with the works council, especially when it comes to restructuring.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction Clauses

BCLP lawyers based in London will provide a refresher on governing law and jurisdiction clauses post Brexit. The session will cover the framework of rules which now apply to determine whether the English courts have jurisdiction and provide guidance on drafting effective governing law and jurisdiction clauses.

Introduction to Arbitration

The session will provide a general introduction to arbitration as a method of dispute resolution.  We will look at the significance of the arbitration agreement and provide guidance for drafting and negotiating effective arbitration clauses including factors to consider when choosing an arbitral seat, arbitral institution and arbitration rules.

Non-Financial Misconduct and Whistleblower Investigations

We will provide an overview of the regulatory and people management issues involved in whistleblower investigations relating to non-financial misconduct and how they affect your business. We will deep dive into the practical steps required to conduct internal investigations and how to deal with any regulatory issues arising.

Obtaining Best Evidence and Trauma-Informed Witness Handling

This session will deal with the difficulties in obtaining and giving witness evidence, especially when dealing with a vulnerable witness.

Personal Coaching in the Context of Legal Proceedings

We are aware that the difficult dynamics of legal proceedings, including investigations, often have long-running repercussions, both at an organisational and individual level. With employees currently experiencing some of the highest stress levels in recent years, it is important that wellbeing offerings within the workplace, including in the context of legal proceedings, respond to this. Furthermore, regulators are becoming increasingly concerned with psychological safety and broadening their remit to include non-financial conduct, so increasing the risk of (i) employees being involved in legal processes with sensitive subject matters that may cause distress; and (ii) employers being held accountable for failing to safeguard psychological safety in those circumstances. Our coaching offering provides employees with appropriate support spanning the intersection of the legal and the human aspects of legal proceedings and can be key to mitigating the risks in this context.

What we offer (please note that fees will apply):

• 30 minute training (no fee): An overview of the human costs and risks in the context of legal proceedings and how coaching can help to mitigate those risks.
• Coaching sessions for witnesses/interviewees: A confidential space within which an employee can explore any concerns about giving evidence and learn to navigate those concerns such that their impact on wellbeing, and the legal proceedings, is minimised.
• Coaching sessions for employees handling the litigation/investigation: Offering a safe space for members of the internal teams running legal proceedings provides a vital outlet to alleviate stress, process emotions and build resilience to combat risk of burnout/fatigue and equip individuals with the resources to be able to manage the complexities and challenges of the process.
• Ad hoc: An ad-hoc ‘hotline’ service to allow, for example, an individual to sound-out a particular way of managing an interview/investigation process or to provide a confidential space for the diffusion of tension or concern is a particularly effective way of addressing, and mitigating, the various risks set out above.

These services are offered by Rebecca Norris, a barrister and trauma-informed coach specialising in the physiological impact of stress and trauma.

Planning Due Diligence

We will provide an understanding of why planning status is intrinsic to the value of land and the types of planning matters that might be relevant to a real estate transaction.  This would include an understanding of planning permissions, planning (s106) and highways (s278/s38) agreements, CIL and other planning designations that may be relevant in order to identify any planning constraints, liabilities and risks.

Psychological Safety, Diversity and Inclusion

BCLP lawyers will consider what psychological safety is in a modern workplace, its genesis and why it matters. We will take you on a journey through the cultural lens and what is required to create a psychologically safe working environment and the key components of inclusive leadership.

Social Mobility

The discussion paper published last year by the regulators, “Diversity and inclusion in the financial sector – working together to drive change”, marked an increase in regulatory focus upon diversity and inclusion in financial services in the UK.

Social mobility is one of the areas of focus of the UK Regulators. To date the progress on social mobility has been limited, with concern that those in senior roles are overwhelmingly from higher socio-economic backgrounds. The discussion paper notes that, “There is also limited progress on social mobility.  A deep dive study of 8 financial firms (including regulators) found that 89% of senior roles are held by people from higher socio-economic backgrounds (City of London Corporation/Bridge Group)).”

The regulators’ vision for the future is that diversity and inclusion is embedded as part of the supervision of management and governance. In the context of the Senior Managers regime, the discussion paper proposes that the regulators would be looking to understand how firms have considered the proposed appointment and how it will contribute to diversity in a way that supports the collective suitability of the Board and senior management.  Social mobility should form part of such considerations and decisions should be made in the context of meaningful data gathered to check on progress in increasing socio-economic diversity at senior levels.

We have put together a workshop which will consider this issue in the context of your business.

The legal context:

Partners and associates from our Regulatory and Employment teams will consider:

• The legal context and regulatory trends in the UK and at EU level in relation to social mobility.
• Positive action in respect of underrepresented groups in the workplace.
• Collecting data and monitoring progress.
• The importance of education and raising awareness and driving policies in this area.

Social Mobility in action:

Daisy Reeves, our Global Inclusion & Diversity Client Relationship Partner, will close out the session looking at the practicalities of Social Mobility in a modern corporate workplace touching on:

• What are the barriers to Social Mobility?
• What can we do?
• Psychological Safety and Social Mobility.

The Rise of Mass Litigation in the UK and the Key Areas of Threat for Banks

This session will analyse the trends in claims involving financial institutions using Court data from Solomonic (a litigation analytics company). We will then consider reasons for the rise of mass litigation in the UK, and identify the key threats of mass litigation for financial institutions and the interplay with the regulatory regime.

Wellbeing in Investigations

We will provide you with an introduction to wellbeing in workplace investigations. We will cover how the wellbeing of those with different roles in an investigation can be affected and what can be done at the outset and throughout the investigation to support those involved and mitigate further risks.

Witness Familiarisation

BCLP is able to provide witness familiarisation programmes for clients who may have questions or be anxious about appearing as witnesses in any legal setting, including courts, arbitrations, tribunals, inquiries and committees. The programmes are provided by Mukul Chawla KC and are designed to focus upon the witness’s own personal characteristics and provide concrete methods of improving the quality of the witness’s evidence and, in the process, provide reassurance to those who are nervous about what they may be about to face when giving evidence. For further details on this training, please click here.