Saverio Lembo

Bär & Karrer Ltd

Geneva www.baerkarrer.ch

saverio.lembo@baerkarrer.ch Tel: +41 58 261 57 00

Biography

Saverio Lembo heads Bär & Karrer’s white-collar crime practice group. He regularly assists clients in Swiss and foreign criminal proceedings. He is also often involved in complex commercial litigation proceedings. He has served as a party representative or arbitrator in various international arbitrations. He regularly represents clients before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Saverio Lembo is ranked in tier 1 of the leading lawyers in White-Collar Crime Switzerland by Chambers and Partners. Who’s Who Legal awarded him “Lawyer of the Year 2020” for Switzerland in the categories “Business Crime Defence” and “Investigations”.

What are the challenges you face when advising clients facing investigation from the authorities, from a reputational viewpoint?

Credibility is undoubtedly the most important challenge. Whether you decide to cooperate or to fight a case, credibility is the key point. You need to convince the authorities of the soundness of your arguments. By being credible and firm in the defence of the interest of your client, you will gain the respect of the authorities.

What insights have you gained from working with a spectrum of clients, including individuals, companies and state entities?

The setup is totally different. Whereas the relationship is more emotional and personal when you work for individuals, advising a company or a state entity is more technical and sometimes more challenging, especially when you need to deal with different lines of reporting.

What are the main challenges currently for enforcement agencies in Switzerland and why?

The internationalisation of criminal proceedings for infractions such as corruption and money laundering requires a close cooperation between international enforcement agencies. This is particularly true when Swiss agencies need to establish a predicate offence. This means that they must coordinate their efforts with agencies from other countries in order to conduct efficient investigations. I must say that in the past few years, I have observed closer cooperation between the Swiss prosecuting authorities and foreign enforcement agencies, in particular with the US, Brazil, Singapore and the Netherlands.

What impact has technological innovation had on the nature of crime cases you have been seeing?

I can mention two kinds of impacts. The first relates to the nature of the matters I deal with: I have seen more and more cases in which hackers have taken control of email account and fraudulently diverted significant amounts of money from the account of the client of a bank. Consequently, banks are increasingly sued for a lack of diligence and have now understood that the training of their employees is of paramount importance. The second impact I can mention concerns the digitalisation of documents and the consequences on the sealing of the same: when authorities dawn raid the premises of a company, they usually leave with IT material (computers, servers, etc.). This material is very often sealed upon request of the investigated company. The unsealing of IT material can be a cumbersome and lengthy exercise for the court in charge of the matter. This task was much easier for the authorities when the documents were in paper form. Our law is outdated in this respect and the Swiss legislator might wish to refresh it.

What do you think will be the greatest challenge faced by the generation of corporate crime practitioners behind you?

To keep up with technological innovations, as well as with the understanding of how your clients operate. Understanding the business environment of your clients undoubtedly enables a law firm to deliver services of a better quality.

You have enjoyed a very distinguished career so far, what would you like to accomplish that you have not yet achieved?

I would simply like to be able to keep the same enthusiasm as I have had until now and transmit it to the younger generation of my firm. I love my job!

WWL says: Saverio Lembo is “one of the best” in the market and receives widespread plaudits for his “understanding of the clients’ needs” in complex corporate investigations.