Julian Godfray
Biography
Julian Godfray is a Counsel in Baker McKenzie's International Trade and Compliance & Investigations practices in London. Julian’s practice covers a broad range of compliance areas, including sanctions and export controls, anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, national security laws and competition law. Julian's practice covers compliance advice, investigations, disclosures, compliance programme risk assessments, and transactional and foreign investment work.
During his time at Baker McKenzie, Julian has completed secondments to a FTSE 100 mining company, a FTSE 100 specialty chemicals and technology company (in the ethics and compliance team), and recently in the sanctions, anti-bribery and anti-money laundering legal team of a major US investment bank. Julian has also completed secondments to Baker McKenzie’s Brussels office (in the European and Competition Law Practice), and to the Firm’s Madrid office, working as part of Baker McKenzie’s trade compliance practice in Spain.
Practice Focus
Julian has significant experience in managing and advising on client’s interactions with a range of enforcement authorities and regulators, including the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, the UK Department for Business and Trade, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the UK National Crime Agency, the UK Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation and the Serious Fraud Office. Julian has significant experience in the financial services sector in particular.
Julian has contributed to a number of client alerts and publications in relation to compliance matters, and Julian regularly presents on these matters as part of the Firm's conferences and webinars.
Representative Legal Matters
- Advising a wide range of companies on Russia sanctions compliance advice, including relating to divestments from Russia, and applications for financial sanctions and trade sanctions licences to UK and EU authorities.
- Advising a wide range of companies on trade compliance-related internal investigations, and related reporting considerations.
- Representing a FTSE 100 company on the investigation and self-report of bribery- related matters before authorities in the US and UK, relating to conduct in a number of high-risk jurisdictions.
- Advising a range of major financial institutions on financial sanctions compliance matters, including asset freezing and reporting obligations, and complex assessments of the impacts of sanctions on different types of financial transactions and counterparty relationships.
- Running multiple compliance risk assessments for companies in a range of sectors, including sanctions, bribery, and failure to prevent fraud risk assessments.
- Advising senior executives of a leading financial institution on an FCA investigation in relation to potential sanctions and regulatory breaches.
- Advising a number of technology and energy companies in relation to voluntary disclosures of sanctions and export control violations.
- Undertaking an investigation into bribery and corruption allegations for a UK-based engineering and infrastructure company, in the context of the sale of the business to a third party.
Admissions
- England & Wales~United Kingdom (2016)
Education
- King's College London (Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law) (2019)
- University of Law (Legal Practice Course - Distinction) (2014)
- BPP University Law School (Graduate Diploma in Law - Distinction) (2013)
- University of Edinburgh (MA in Spanish and English Literature - including Erasmus exchange at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) (2011)
Languages
- English
- French
- Spanish
Previous Offices
- Brussels
- Madrid