Andrew Smith

Managing Partner

"Andrew Smith brings total focus and professionalism to each case he conducts – skills which he brings to bear in multiple high-profile investigations by the SFO."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

Andrew Smith
BIOGRAPHY & EXPERTISE
Andrew Smith is an experienced litigator who has advised on a range of white-collar criminal and regulatory matters, many of them international in nature.

“Andrew is an inventive and creative solicitor who knows the law extremely well and has excellent judgement” according to Chambers and Partners UK 2023, in which he is ranked for ‘Crime: Extradition’, ‘Financial Crime: Individuals’, ‘POCA Work & Asset Forfeiture’, and ‘Tax: Contentious Fraud’.

He is recognised by The Legal 500 UK 2023 as a leading individual in ‘Fraud: White-Collar Crime’ and a next generation partner in ‘Crime’. He is included as a leading lawyer in the Who’s Who: Business Crime Defence Lawyers 2021 guide and was ranked in the Who’s Who Legal: Investigations 2018 guide as being the number one “future leader” in Europe. In 2017 he was named as one of the 40 leading investigations lawyers in the world under the age of 40. He was named “Lawyer of the Week” by The Times (London) for successfully defending the first extradition request received by the UK from the UAE.

 

Areas of expertise

Andrew’s white-collar criminal and regulatory practice includes numerous domestic and cross-border investigations and prosecutions brought by the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency, Crown Prosecution Service, HM Revenue & Customs and the police into allegations including conspiracy to defraud, offences under the Fraud Act 2006, tax fraud, money laundering, market abuse, insider dealing, false accounting and bribery/corruption.

Andrew has acted in a string of complex and high-profile extradition cases, including requests emanating from Russia, Ukraine, the United States, South Africa, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mexico and the Middle East (particularly the United Arab Emirates), as well as a number of EU countries, and has experience of making representations to INTERPOL for the removal of red and diffusion notices. He also has experience where mutual legal assistance is sought from the UK by foreign prosecutors, particularly overseas restraint orders and requests for witness evidence.

Andrew has represented companies and individuals in corporate internal investigations, and has developed expertise in a number of areas of regulatory crime, particularly financial services (including regulatory investigations into approved persons by the FCA). He also has experience of representing individuals and preparing them to give evidence in high-profile public inquiries and investigations.

WORK HIGHLIGHTS
  • Acting for individual suspects in the SFO investigations into Glencore, Tesco, Airbus, Petrofac, Amec Foster Wheeler, British American Tobacco, GSK, Unaoil, Quindell and LIBOR, as well as individual suspects in a variety of NCA investigations concerning allegations of fraudulent trading, breaches of financial sanctions and overseas bribery/corruption.
  • Acting for numerous individual suspects and witnesses in FCA criminal and regulatory investigations into allegations of insider dealing, market abuse and breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, including a defendant in the FCA’s largest ever prosecution of insider dealing (Operation Tabernula).
  • Acting for individuals sought on complex extradition requests, including Shrien Dewani (South African request on allegations of murder and kidnap), Andrew Symeou (Greek request on allegations of manslaughter) and Mohammed Lodhi (the first UAE request to the UK on allegations of drug trafficking), as well as high-profile political figures and businesspeople whose extradition has recently been sought on investigations in France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Romania and Russia.
  • Successfully made representations for the removal of INTERPOL red and diffusion notices requested by prosecuting authorities in countries including Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, the UAE and Bahrain.
  • Acting for respondents in contested Account Freezing Order and Account Forfeiture proceedings, including gathering expert and witness evidence, often from overseas, to establish the legitimate origins of the money.
  • Acting for high-profile individuals in public inquiries, including a former senior executive in the Lord Dyson investigation into the BBC’s conduct of the Panorama Princess Diana interview.
  • Advising individuals in general criminal matters, including a suspect in the police investigation into the Post Office scandal, former soldiers accused of crimes in Northern Ireland, an MP accused of offences connected to Parliamentary expenses and a former religious figure accused of covering up historic sex abuse in the Church of England.
  • Advising companies and individuals on mutual legal assistance requests received from foreign prosecutors in proceedings alleging crimes ranging from tax evasion to crimes against humanity.
Career

Andrew Smith re-joined Corker Binning in July 2007 (having previously worked here as a paralegal) and became a partner in April 2012. He trained and qualified as a solicitor at Hogan Lovells.

Andrew is a member of the Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum. He is a co-editor of the Lloyds Law Review (Financial Crime) digest, speaks and writes regularly about financial crime and extradition, and is a recently appointed co-editor of Archbold.

News & Insights
Testimonials
"Andrew Smith is hard-working and does a fantastic job. He is somebody I would recommend for matters requiring sophisticated expertise."

Chambers UK 2023

"Andrew Smith is very strategic, and very creative in the strategies he uses."

Chambers UK 2023

"He is very experienced in the field and completely reliable. He is very interested in getting into the details of a case and wants to know all its ins and outs."

Chambers UK 2023

"He is a highly intellectual individual and at the top of the field."

Legal 500 2023

"Andrew is an inventive and creative solicitor who knows the law extremely well and has excellent judgement."

Chambers UK 2023

"Andrew is very cerebral and a delight to work with."

Chambers UK 2023

"Andrew Smith is a star – hugely bright, very thoughtful, and an excellent lawyer."

Legal 500 2023

"An incredible team all round. Andrew Smith is outstanding."

Legal 500 2023

 "Andrew is an extremely thoughtful, analytical lawyer who would be one of my first choices for a matter involving tricky or novel legal issues."

Chambers HNW 2022

"I think what sets him apart is that he's very cerebral. He's very interested in the law and he's able to help clients through very tricky issues by going back to first principles and can construct a thoughtful, powerful legal argument."

Chambers HNW 2022

"He is a very skilled lawyer and has a very good legal brain."

Chambers UK 2022

"He thinks about cases in an incredibly clear and analytic way, with the kind of intelligence that allows him to get to the nub of legal issues without making them too intellectual."

Chambers UK 2022

"He shows fantastic judgement as to where a case might go, is incredibly thorough in his preparation and always on top of the detail."

Chambers UK 2022

“Andrew is a far-sighted tactician and thoughtful adviser with a lot of experience guiding people through extremely thorny situations.”

Chambers UK 2022

"He is fantastic and very intelligent."

Chambers UK 2022

Andrew Smith "has a razor-sharp brain and an acutely tactical approach which, combined with his excellent judgment, engenders complete confidence from his clients."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

"Andrew Smith brings total focus and professionalism to each case he conducts – skills which he brings to bear in multiple high-profile investigations by the SFO."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

"Andrew Smith is exceptional in his ability to cut through knotty legal issues in fraud and corruption investigations."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

"Andrew Smith is applauded as a “very academic lawyer” with “excellent” experience dealing with complex extradition matters.”

Who’s Who Legal Business Crime Defence 2021

“His judgement is very sharp.” “He is a really fantastic partner, a very strong performer, cerebral and perfectly prepared.”

CHAMBERS UK 2021

"Andrew Smith provides legal and case analysis of the highest calibre – he is generally the smartest cookie in the room, often giving his clients the edge."

Legal 500 UK 2020

"His ability to analyse cases and work out a route to achieve success is remarkable."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

Andrew Smith is ‘fiercely intelligent, has great judgement and an established reputation’.

THE LEGAL 500 2019

Andrew Smith is 'an excellent lawyer, extremely bright and very efficient and practical in dealing with disciplinary and regulatory issues'.

THE LEGAL 500 2019

Andrew Smith has a "great knowledge of international law."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"He is experienced, goes the extra mile and really engages in a case."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"Very intelligent and works extremely hard."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

  • Acting for individual suspects in the SFO investigations into Glencore, Tesco, Airbus, Petrofac, Amec Foster Wheeler, British American Tobacco, GSK, Unaoil, Quindell and LIBOR, as well as individual suspects in a variety of NCA investigations concerning allegations of fraudulent trading, breaches of financial sanctions and overseas bribery/corruption.
  • Acting for numerous individual suspects and witnesses in FCA criminal and regulatory investigations into allegations of insider dealing, market abuse and breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, including a defendant in the FCA’s largest ever prosecution of insider dealing (Operation Tabernula).
  • Acting for individuals sought on complex extradition requests, including Shrien Dewani (South African request on allegations of murder and kidnap), Andrew Symeou (Greek request on allegations of manslaughter) and Mohammed Lodhi (the first UAE request to the UK on allegations of drug trafficking), as well as high-profile political figures and businesspeople whose extradition has recently been sought on investigations in France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Romania and Russia.
  • Successfully made representations for the removal of INTERPOL red and diffusion notices requested by prosecuting authorities in countries including Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, the UAE and Bahrain.
  • Acting for respondents in contested Account Freezing Order and Account Forfeiture proceedings, including gathering expert and witness evidence, often from overseas, to establish the legitimate origins of the money.
  • Acting for high-profile individuals in public inquiries, including a former senior executive in the Lord Dyson investigation into the BBC’s conduct of the Panorama Princess Diana interview.
  • Advising individuals in general criminal matters, including a suspect in the police investigation into the Post Office scandal, former soldiers accused of crimes in Northern Ireland, an MP accused of offences connected to Parliamentary expenses and a former religious figure accused of covering up historic sex abuse in the Church of England.
  • Advising companies and individuals on mutual legal assistance requests received from foreign prosecutors in proceedings alleging crimes ranging from tax evasion to crimes against humanity.