Corporate Crime, Compliance & Forensics

Corporate crime encompasses all criminal and quasi-criminal risks that arise during business activities.

At CMS, we define corporate crime broadly to reflect the reality of modern enforcement and stakeholder expectations. This includes bribery and corruption, fraud and financial misconduct, money laundering, sanctions and export control breaches, human rights violations, competition offences, tax crime, environmental and health & safety offences, data protection and cyber-related crime, as well as accounting irregularities and financial reporting misconduct.

Our integrated global teams of 400 experts combine regulatory, criminal, litigation, competition, tax, employment, environmental, data protection and sector-specific expertise to address the full spectrum of corporate criminal exposure.

Corporate crime encompasses all criminal and quasi-criminal risks that arise during business activities.

At CMS, we define corporate crime broadly to reflect the reality of modern enforcement and stakeholder expectations. This includes bribery and corruption, fraud and financial misconduct, money laundering, sanctions and export control breaches, human rights violations, competition offences, tax crime, environmental and health & safety offences, data protection and cyber-related crime, as well as accounting irregularities and financial reporting misconduct.

Our integrated global teams of 400 experts combine regulatory, criminal, litigation, competition, tax, employment, environmental, data protection and sector-specific expertise to address the full spectrum of corporate criminal exposure.

Our investigations are supported by CMS Evidence, the leading in-house evidence collection, review and disclosure technology, assisting you in the early stages of litigation, investigations, arbitration and tribunals. We have one of the largest dedicated teams of any major law firm with extensive experience of project managing large scale and complex disclosure processes. Unlike using an external provider, we are fully in control of the entire process to ensure you receive exceptional results. How does it save money? CMS Evidence can save up to 50% compared to outsourcing to an external provider. Our specialists will prepare and load your data at competitive rates. FREE AI-Assisted Review is now included with every RelativityOne matter. On each new and existing matter, the first 5,000 documents can now be processed using Relativity aiR for Review at no additional cost. With over a third of our matters falling within the 0–5,000 documents range this market-leading change offers real value to our clients.

Beyond investigations, we design, implement and test compliance frameworks capable of preventing corporate crime and withstanding regulatory scrutiny across jurisdictions.

We support clients in conducting risk assessments, strengthening governance structures, enhancing third-party due diligence, integrating compliance in M&A transactions and responding to post-settlement obligations. Our experience includes independent reviews, compliance audits and monitorships, ensuring that remediation measures are credible, proportionate and internationally aligned.

Importantly, our compliance and audit work is not designed to restrict business — it is designed to enable it. By helping clients identify, assess and control risks in high-risk jurisdictions, we allow them to operate, grow and compete where others may hesitate to enter. We view compliance not as a defensive constraint, but as a strategic tool and a genuine competitive advantage — positioning legal and compliance functions as trusted partners to the business in controlled risk-taking and sustainable expansion.