Katharine Harle  > Dentons > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Well-placed to leverage the firm’s global footprint on multi-jurisdictional mandates, the regulation and investigations team at Dentons counts global banks and the banking arms of major retailers among its key roster of clients. Greg McEneny focuses on matters concerning regulatory permissions and cross-border licensing requirements, in addition to the implementation, compliance and governance of regulations including MiFID and the Consumer Duty. McEneny jointly leads the team alongside Katharine Harle, and other key contacts include Adrian Yeo and Jessica Cooke.

Strengthened by the firm’s international reach, the practice at Dentons is well equipped to handle corporate governance matters across several industries. It is a strong choice for financial institutions, banks and international companies seeking financial regulatory support. Both Katharine Harle and Richard Barham oversee the practice; Harle has extensive experience working with senior leadership teams within the FCA and handles the investigations and compliance work, and Barham is particularly active in advising clients in the transport, banking, manufacturing and sports sectors. Dan Lund bolsters the team’s offering with his expertise in bribery, corruption, fraud and corporate tax evasion issues. Sarah Beeby handles the employment law matters.

Sanctions advice and trade compliance instructions form core pillars of work for the regulatory and investigations team at Dentons. Department head Katharine Harle is a seasoned financial crime specialist, particularly relating to fraud, ABC, and AML issues, while the ‘very knowledgeable and pragmatic’ Roger Matthews takes point on sanctions instructions; new partner Dan Lund is another name to note here. Harle and Matthews are ably assisted by the ‘exceptional’ Sarah Partridge-Smith, a key name for AML compliance work and multi-agency investigations.

The ‘exceptionally strong’ team at Dentons has ‘rich experience of extremely complex and high-value disputes’ for a varied array of clients in the sector, including asset managers, banks and brokers. As well as assisting clients in investigations before the FCA, it also acts for the regulator itself in some high-profile matters. ‘Brilliant’ team head Katharine Harle is noted for her work defending financial services clients in enforcement actions and investigations concerning market misconduct and non-financial misconduct. The ‘intellectually brilliant’ Lara Seabourne leads the firm’s relationship with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and has consequently handled a significant amount of judicial review matters. Recently made up to partner, Zeena Saleh is ‘proving herself on bigger cases’, both for the FCA and in matters adverse to the regulator.

Underpinned by its global reach, Dentons is regularly involved in multijurisdictional, international trade matters. The team is jointly chaired by Roger Matthews, whose expertise spans export control investigations, sanctions, WTO laws, as well as customs, supply chain and regulatory issues; Daniel Lund, who is extremely knowledgeable of UK and EU regulatory frameworks; Katharine Harle, who handles the regulatory and investigations matters and Louisa Caswell who oversees the team’s disputes work.