Franziska Christen
Franziska is a Senior Associate in our Business Crime & Investigations department.
Since qualifying as a solicitor in August 2018, Franziska has gained broad experience advising clients on Interpol Red Notices, bribery and corruption-related issues, money laundering, regulatory proceedings and sanctions challenges.
Most of Franziska’s cases involve cross-border investigations and proceedings in multiple jurisdictions. In the UK, she has represented clients under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, the National Crime Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Franziska graduated with a first class degree in history from King’s College London and studied for a master’s degree in economic and social history at the University of Oxford before completing the law conversion course at City University. She also holds a master’s degree in criminology from the University of Cambridge.
Franziska is a native German speaker with knowledge of French and Spanish.
Case examples
Representing the CEO of MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas Plc in Croatian criminal proceedings and two sets of international arbitration proceedings (UNCITRAL and ICSID) as well as before Interpol, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.
Defending a senior employee of a multinational engineering and consulting business in an ongoing criminal investigation by the SFO in relation to suspected bribery and corruption issues in the Middle East.
Conducting an extensive post-conviction disclosure exercise in connection with appellate proceedings arising from what may become the largest ever miscarriage of justice case in English legal history (Hamilton and others v Post Office Ltd).
Acting for a high-profile former portfolio manager in respect of a preliminary FCA investigation into suspected market abuse and breaches of the FCA’s conduct rules regarding personal account dealing and conflicts of interest.
Advising a foreign ultra-high-net-worth individual subject to politically motivated criminal proceedings in the Middle East on potential Mutual Legal Assistance requests and money laundering risks and effecting the deletion of inaccurate personal data on several Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Client platforms