We advise Swiss and foreign banking and financial institutions, and develop this activity along several lines.

In particular, we offer advisory services in matters of recovery and litigation, in connection with the firm's Dispute Resolution Group.

For example, the firm has advised banks in the Madoff affair (analysis of regulatory risks and risks to affected clients; negotiation of an agreement with the Madoff trustee; sale of the claim in the BLMIS bankruptcy; litigation with certain debtor clients of the bank; advice to the bank's bodies on civil and criminal risks, etc.).

We also advise our clients in litigation related to losses suffered by clients or caused by third-party asset managers, in cases of commodity trading or financing that have run into difficulties due to fraud or sudden drops in the value of commodities or the underlyings of certain complex financial products.

The firm has in-house expertise in English banking law, including outsourcing, commercial contracts and a large network of regular correspondents in the world's major financial centres.

Our practice includes in particular:

• Handling tax compliance issues of client assets (mutual assistance and administrative assistance; money laundering), including assisting Swiss banks in the US-Swiss account regularisation programme
• Financing and credit transactions, whether conducted by Swiss banks (standard credit documentation; loan agreements and guarantees subject to Swiss law) or with a Swiss connection, including possible litigation (legal opinions, taking of guarantees)
• Expertise in alternative products, in particular structuring private clients/asset managers; investor disputes in private equity products; issues relating to hedge funds held by banks as nominees - internal applications ("grey market")
• Regulatory issues, in particular for financial products (FINMA authorisations; drafting of internal distributor guidelines CISA), stock exchange law / LIMF (e.g. shareholding threshold announcements), outsourcing (according to FINMA circular and UK FCA rules ("SYSC"); eBanking and cross border data transfer contracts, including data protection issues.