Simone Nadelhofer

LALIVE

Zurich www.lalive.law

snadelhofer@lalive.law Tel: +41 58 105 2100

Biography

Simone specialises in complex domestic and cross-border internal and regulatory investigations covering many areas, including corruption, ESG-related issues, money-laundering, fraud, cybercrime and harassment allegations. She is regularly retained by corporate clients to advise on crisis management, compliance and remedial action. She also has extensive experience with monitorships. Ranked in 100 Women in Investigations 2021 worldwide by Global Investigations Review, Simone is a member of several professional associations, including the ACi ISO subcommittee for the new ISO standard on internal investigations. She also recently co-edited and contributed to the first edition of The Guide to Internal investigations in Switzerland.

What attracted you to a career in investigations?

I always liked puzzles and human interactions, so a career in investigations was an obvious choice. The complexity of matters in this area ensure constant intellectual stimulation and it feels like solving a puzzle, but on a completely different scale. Also, resolving these matters always requires working together with interesting people from all over the world, with diverse fields of expertise.

What have been the highlights of your practice in the past year?

I conducted an internal investigation in a company in a delicate situation. The facts were complex and involved wrongdoing by the top management. Our investigation led to the dismissal of two executives and a complete overhaul of the company’s organisation. I was proud to have helped the company take these important steps.

What do clients look for in an effective investigations lawyer?

A specialist should of course be an expert in their field but, first and foremost, I believe clients want a lawyer who is unbiased and focused. Tenacity, responsiveness and strong commercial thinking are essential – and ensure that the lawyer quickly understands both the customer’s business and the issues at stake.

Being a good teamplayer is also very important. Conducting an investigation is not a one-man or woman show. Instead, clients need a strong and diverse team of experts who complement each other and work together as a team, in the interests of the customer.

How do you establish a detailed understanding of a client’s business to advise them effectively?

Every engagement starts with thorough research on the client’s business, and in particular the client’s public financial and non-financial reports. We also speak to the client’s management and employees. A serious internal investigation or compliance advice requires an in-depth understanding of a client’s business and risks, because all solutions are different.

How does your multilingualism strengthen your practice, especially in multijurisdictional investigations?

Most of our clients are operating in a global setting. Being able to understand and speak several languages allows me to interact with people from various backgrounds and regions. Even though digital translators provide good results nowadays, they are sometimes not able to grasp linguistic nuances. Also, direct human interaction can be key in internal investigations.

How have virtual assets and digital currencies changed the practice of asset recovery/ investigations?

Switzerland has presented itself as a hub for crypto innovation, and it has succeeded in making itself an important centre for ICOs, so investigations involving digital assets are now part of my daily practice.

The particular features of virtual currency systems, especially decentralised systems, present new challenges for investigations. The increased privacy in transactions and the ability to send funds without an intermediary, serve as obstacles to investigators when the systems are misused for illegal purposes. What’s tricky in all cases is attribution: linking transactions and addresses to real people in the real world. In other words, being able to identify potentially criminal transactions and the criminals behind them. Further challenges include regulatory and compliance disparities, transaction obfuscation and anonymity, and the global nature of the financial systems. Freezing and recovering digital assets in an international setting raises many new and interesting questions.

With all this, it is crucial to stay abreast of the regulatory developments and frequently re-evaluate compliance policies and procedures.

How have frauds become more sophisticated over the past five years, and how do you think they could evolve in the near future?

Today there are more sophisticated tools to detect fraud, such as AI fraud detection systems. At the same time, fraudsters adapt and are becoming increasingly aware of behaviours that can trigger such systems, developing new and more sophisticated methods. Also, the economic landscape and business environment has become more complex, with an increased number of stakeholders and function layers, which makes it harder to detect fraud. I also see that fraudsters often have a deep understanding of financial transactions. I am currently working on a large-scale M&A fraud, which was highly sophisticated and hard to detect. It was obvious that the fraudsters were experienced businessmen who not only knew how complex transactions worked, but had planned the fraudulent transactions far in advance. In such situations, it is essential to have an interdisciplinary team of experts.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the field of investigations?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be curious, open minded and unbiased. Find a good mentor and actively ask for guidance. Last, but not least, be prepared to work hard.

WWL says: Simone Nadelhofer distinguishes herself as a specialist in complex domestic and transnational proceedings and is praised by sources for being “exceptionally thorough in her work”.