Overview
Jonathan Pickworth is Head of the London Investigations and White Collar Defense practice. He has more than three decades of experience representing corporates and individuals in investigations by U.K. and international agencies. He also advises firms on internal investigations, due diligence, compliance, and risk in relation to criminal and regulatory matters. Mr. Pickworth's practice focuses on allegations relating to money laundering, corruption, market misconduct, fraud, tax evasion, and insider trading. He frequently interacts with the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority, the police, and other agencies.
Chambers UK 2020 notes that Mr. Pickworth is "clearly very knowledgeable about all matters relating to white-collar crime and is very easy to work with."
Accolades and Recognitions
Ranked Band 1 for Financial Crime: Corporates/Individuals, Chambers UK 2020
Ranked as a leader in his field in Chambers UK since 2011
Listed as a Leading Individual for both Fraud: White Collar Crime and Regulatory Investigations & Corporate Crime, Legal 500 UK 2020
Ranked in The International Who's Who for Business Crime Defense and as a Thought Leader, every year since 2011
Honored as Lawyer of the Week, The Times ("Jonathan Pickworth, solicitor who acted for trader in currency FX case"), November 2018
Education
The College of Law, Chester
Emmanuel College, MA, Cambridge
Nottingham Trent University, LLM
Speaking Engagements
Author, "Catching Criminals Could Get Harder Post-Brexit", Law360, January 2021
Chair of GIR Interactive, London, Global Investigations Review, December 2020
Co-author and co-editor with Jo Dimmock, Bribery & Corruption, 8th edition, Global Legal Insights, December 2020
Author, "In Brief: Money Laundering Offences in United Kingdom", Lexology, June 2020
Editor and author, "Anti-Money Laundering", Getting the Deal Through, Lexology, May 2020
Author, "Blowing the Whistle on Inadequate Protections: How does the New EU Whistleblower Directive Improve on Existing Legislation?", Lexology, November 2019
Co-author with Jo Dimmock, "Co-operation or Capitulation? What the SFO Corporate Co-operation Guidance Really Means", Lexology, August 2019
Author, "Wearing a Wire Won't Cut it for Witnesses in Britain", The Times (opinion piece in The Brief ), July 2019
Speaker, ACI's Anti-Corruption Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2018
Author, "First Unexplained Wealth Order Challenge Treads Familiar Ground for Compliance Professionals", Lexology, October 2018
Co-author with Jo Dimmock, "Money Laundering Goes Mainstream - How will the FCA Respond?", Lexology, January 2018
Author, "Facilitating Tax Evasion: How to Avoid Being Unwittingly Caught by the Criminal Finances Act 2017", Lexology, November 2017
Co-author with Jo Dimmock, "How Phil Ivey Fundamentally Changed the Concept of Dishonesty in English Criminal Law", Lexology, January 2017
Author, "Beware the Regulator Cracking Down on Corporate Hospitality", Financial Times, May 2016
Involvement
Founding Member, Corporate Crime Committee, City of London Law Society
Recent Representations
Advised a financial institution regarding a multijurisdictional internal investigation in relation to failures in systems and controls related to money laundering
Advised a major global corporate regarding an internal investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption in relation to an LNG to power infrastructure project
Advised a company in the mining sector regarding an internal investigation into allegations of bribery and corruptionAdvised an insurance provider in relation to potential breaches of financial sanctions and a related review of sanctions policies and procedures
Represented and secured the acquittal of Richard Usher, a senior bank trader, in connection with a worldwide investigation and prosecution of the alleged manipulation of foreign exchange benchmarks by the Department of Justice and other agencies
Represented a major global engineering, construction, and services company in a worldwide corruption investigation into the bribery of government officials in Nigeria
Advised a global logistics company in an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of bribery of foreign government officials
Acting for a senior executive in the oil industry in relation to a Serious Fraud Office investigation and prosecution relating to alleged bribery in post-war Iraq
Advised an individual in relation to a high-profile criminal investigation by HM Revenue & Customs
Representing an individual in relation to an overseas bribery investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and the Department of Justice
Representing one of the defendants in the prosecution by the Serious Fraud Office relating to an alleged fraud against the U.K. government by G4S
Conducted an internal investigation for a life sciences company in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption in Eastern Europe
Represented a global logistics company in a worldwide tax fraud investigation
Advised a global defense company in relation to an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office of allegations of bribery and corruption in east Asia
Advised a medical devices company in relation to the Serious Fraud Office investigation of "Oil for Food"
Represented a large private construction company in relation to a proceeds of crime settlement with the Serious Fraud Office
Advised a global technology provider in relation to allegations of bribery and corruption arising in a European construction project
Represented a number of senior executives of a major supermarket company in the Serious Fraud Office prosecution of allegations of accounting fraud
Represented a senior executive of a major global banking organisation in a Serious Fraud Office investigation