The practice group at Pinheiro Guimarães for Ethics, Compliance, and Investigations provides legal advice to companies, their governance bodies, directors and officers, partners, and shareholders, in matters related to corporate integrity, governance, and the management of legal, regulatory, and reputational risks, focusing on preventing, identifying, and addressing inappropriate or illegal actions.
The practice group structures and revises compliance programs. It also carries out internal investigations for clients and represents them before authorities, including in the negotiations for reaching settlements in both administrative proceedings and litigation in the judicial courts, to mitigate risks and preserve the legal rights of the clients.
The group works jointly with the other practice groups of the firm in structuring, auditing, and revising compliance aspects in corporate transactions, projects, and financing. It counsels clients in identifying and handling issues related to corruption, fraud, money-laundering and economic sanctions.
These services include the structuring, and the enhancement, of a client’s programs of compliance, anti-corruption, and AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism), as well as preventing the financing of the proliferation of arms of mass destruction. The firm also offers training programs, presentations, and workshops on these matters. In addition, the firm provides support to clients in obtaining seals and certifications testifying as to their levels of adequacy on compliance matters. Finally, Pinheiro Guimarães also advocates on behalf of clients whose operations are subject to international sanction regimes.
The practice group carries out background checks and evaluates suppliers, partners, and other third parties. It also provides support for due diligence exercises in the cases of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and financial transactions, with a focus on identifying and evaluating specific risks of compliance.
The Ethics, Compliance, and Investigations practice carries out all phases of internal investigations, including planning, interviews, legal analysis of documents, and the definition of strategies based on the possible legal consequences of the facts discovered. It also coordinates corporate investigations and advises clients on crisis situations, including when and how disclosures to the market and self-reporting should be made. Acting on behalf of clients, the firm interacts with government authorities in negotiating leniency agreements. It also undertakes the defense of clients in administrative procedures and judicial litigation, especially within the scope of Brazil’s Anti-Corruption Law.
