Former Serious Fraud Office prosecutor, Matthew Cowie, has joined Skadden’s London-based corporate investigations practice. He will focus on corporate internal investigations and defense of government enforcement matters, with an emphasis on anti-corruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations.

Cowie spent eleven years with the SFO, during which time he led several significant overseas corruption investigations, including serving as lead prosecutor in the SFO’s investigations into BAE Systems. As a member of the senior management team of the SFO’s anti-corruption domain, Cowie successfully brought the first two overseas corruption prosecutions of UK corporates. He also brought the first significant prosecution of a senior corporate executive as part of an ongoing collaboration between the SFO and Department of Justice regarding corruption investigations within the medical devices industry. During the consultation period that led to the enactment of the UK Bribery Bill in April 2010, Cowie was involved in drafting the SFO’s position relating to the overseas corruption offense.

Cowie supplements Skadden's team of attorneys in the U.S., Europe and Asia who assist multinational clients in defending corporate investigations. He brings a wealth of direct experience in UK and multi-jurisdictional investigations, and further enhances our ability to advise clients on investigations and state-of-the-art compliance programs.