Guy Bastable Partner

Guy is Head of Corporate Crime at Burges Salmon, playing a leading role in our Dispute Resolution unit as well as a central role in the firm’s Business Crime and Regulatory Investigations team. He works with his colleagues to help clients arrive at the right solution, minimising impact and maximising success. He is supported by our extensive dispute resolution practice with a proven track record in the highest-profile cases and cross-border, multi-sector expertise.  

Guy has a dual practice that straddles both regulatory enforcement and corporate/financial crime. He specialises in crisis management, internal investigations and corporate and director liability, and is recognised as a leading lawyer in the UK for his work at the interface of business regulation and the criminal law.  

Guy’s practice covers serious fraud and money laundering, bribery and corruption, insider dealing and market abuse, health and safety (including fire safety, and food safety and hygiene), environmental protection (including pollution, waste and permitting), and trading standards. His expertise also extends to the complimentary areas of Coroner’s inquests and public inquiries, AML/ABC compliance, recovery of the proceeds of crime (restraint, confiscation, cash seizure, unexplained wealth and civil recovery), and judicial review of the actions of investigators, and regulators.

• Advising a Utilities Company and its board of directors (including undertaking an extensive internal investigation) in relation to alleged breaches of environmental permits at multiple sites and wide-scale water pollution.
• Advising a group of companies and their owners in relation to investigations by the Financial Conduct Authority, the National Crime Agency and their Danish (SOIK) and German (Hamburg Public Prosecutor’s Office) counterparts into allegations of fraud and money laundering involving the loss to the Danish tax authority (SKAT) of at least €1.7 billion; including advising in relation to the defence of SKAT’s £1.5 billion asset recovery claim in the High Court .
• Representing a global steel producer in respect of its defence of a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive arising from an explosion at one of its steelworks; following the successful defence of allegations of corporate manslaughter.
• Advising a Water and Sewage Company in relation to one of the most significant ever Ofwat investigations concerning alleged breaches of licence conditions and statutory duties relating to operational failures, deliberate misreporting of performance data and circa £100 million of avoided penalties.
• Undertaking an extensive internal investigation and liaising with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to potential fraud over many years by senior employees; resulting in the SFO taking no action against the company.
• Advising one of the UK’s largest independent foreign currency suppliers concerning a suspected multi-million Pound fraud on HM Revenue and Customs and money laundering through the client’s business by some of its corporate customers; including advising in relation to the defence of the asset recovery civil claim launched by the HMRC-appointed liquidator.
• Advising the London Borough of Southwark in relation to the joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade, and the subsequent ‘Super Inquest’ that resulted in fire safety recommendations that are now central to the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry.
• Advising a US-based banker in relation to investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice.
• Advising a global sponsorship activation and event management agency in relation to an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into allegations of bribery and money laundering concerning the sale of tickets for the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
• Advising a theatre group in relation to the investigation into the partial collapse of a ceiling at a theatre in London’s West End.
• Representing an individual in the largest ever insider dealing prosecution brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, following an investigation by the Financial Services Authority and the City of London Police.
• Advising a lift company in relation to the prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive concerning the collapse of one of the lifts in London’s Tower Bridge.