AI Issue 10 2017

Acquisition International - October 2017 29 A Full Service Advice Firm with a Premier White Collar Offering Practice, and he sits full time in SPB’s Dubai office. Like SPB as a whole, Richard has a wealth of relevant experience, having represented multinational corporates and other clients across the Middle East, North Africa, India Pacific, Levant, and Europe in connection with anticorruption and economic sanctions regimes. In the context of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and UK Bribery Act (UKBA), Richard has conducted internal investigations into alleged misconduct and international investigations into alleged noncompliance by foreign agents and business partners, he has addressed the implications of the laws as part of M&A due diligence, he has analysed and developed business conduct standards and compliance controls, and he has provided training sessions. Versatile like the firm, he has also advised on the scope of economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and has guided clients when responding to criminal and civil government inquiries. Currently, Richard is assisting a number of different financial institutions across the Middle East, Levant, and Europe with the investigation of potential violations of U.S. sanctions laws and representation before OFAC, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and other U.S. and home-country enforcement agencies and regulators. Richard also lectures at the Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi on the International Business Law Master’s Degree, and has recently supervised two students’ theses on the use of non-prosecution agreements (NPA’s) and deferred prosecution agreements (DPA’s) to resolve government enforcement actions and the implications of Brexit on the UK’s economic sanctions regime. Overall, knowledge and experience have been— and continue to be—key to SPB’s success. Richard Gibbon will certainly play an important part in the firm’s future, as it works to solidify its position as the dominant, market leading Investigations and White Collar Practice in the Middle East.