Dawn Raiders

Tuesday 20 OCTOBER 2020

Is your company ready for the unannounced attendance of a corporate regulator or law enforcement authority exercising search & seizure powers?

We all know that Australian corporate regulators including the ACCC, ASIC, APRA, AUSTRAC and the ATO have wide-ranging powers to compel the production of documents etc by way of notice. However, they also have extensive search and seizure powers which may be invoked without, or with very limited, prior notice: AKA “The Dawn Raid”.

Federal, state and territory law enforcement authorities and the ACC may exercise similar powers, either at the request of a regulator or where independently authorised, for example by way of search warrant. 

This practical session is targeted to in-house counsel and will address the following topics:

• Preparation: Does your company have a practised response plan and protocol in place?  Does everyone from the Receptionist to the CEO know what to do? Who do you notify? Can you call the company’s lawyers? What can you report about or to a client if the documents seized relate to them?
• What to do when investigators arrive: Understanding the source of power used and the scope of any warrant; asking for identification materials from the investigators. Can any execution be delayed pending the arrival of external legal advisors? Where do you put the investigators? Do you have to provide infrastructure for them? What do you tell staff?  What if the media calls? Are the telephones also being intercepted?
• What to do when the searches are being conducted: Monitoring the inspectors, but not interfering. Can notes or photographs be taken of what the inspectors are doing? What do you tell staff to do if they are asked questions? What is the status of any privileged documents? What if there is a dispute about whether certain documents fall within the scope of a notice or warrant?   
• What to do after the investigators have left: identifying the next legal steps; communications to staff, the media and/or the ASX; business continuity and document management.

Panellists:

• Kate Morgan SC, Barrister, Tenth Floor Chambers
• Patrick Knowles, Barrister, Tenth Floor Chambers
• Theo Dorizac, General Counsel at SBS

Chair:

• David Thomas SC, Barrister, Sixth Floor Chambers

 

CO-PRESENTED BY THE NSW BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF CORPORATE COUNSEL

The webinar will be run by registration only. Numbers are limited. For further information, or to register for this event, please click on the register now button below.