Sara George

SARA GEORGE has a wealth of experience in UK and international regulatory and criminal investigations and crisis management.Corporations, individuals, and governments turn to Sara for guidance relating to allegations of involvement in regulatory contraventions and criminal offences, including market abuse, insider dealing, money laundering, cybersecurity breaches, fraud, corruption, and bribery.As the leader of Sidley’s Crisis Management and Strategic Response team in Europe, Sara is also frequently called upon to advise clients on misconduct issues and reputational management, compliance, and internal investigations.Sara has extensive experience in international criminal and regulatory investigations involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and in cases brought by European regulators, police forces, and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Sara has represented a party in every significant prosecution brought by the SFO in recent years, including the LIBOR prosecutions and Foreign Exchange Benchmark manipulation trials.Clients benefit from Sara’s advocacy prowess as a former criminal barrister who has appeared before the Financial Services Tribunal, the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Crown Court, and the Court of Appeal.As a former prosecutor for the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Sara was involved in several groundbreaking matters – including the first criminal prosecution by the FSA against a director for misleading the market (Regina v. Rigby and Bailey), the first Listing Rule contravention, numerous market abuse cases, and refusals of authorization.A leading individual in Chambers UK 2022 for both Financial Crime and Financial Services, sources describe Sara as “a brilliant lawyer and trusted adviser.” Clients in the 2021 edition also say “[s]he is a truly amazing lawyer and has fantastic depth of experience, knowledge and analysis of the law. She is very forward-thinking and proactive in her approach.” Sources from the 2019 edition describe her as “fearless” and say that “she is a strong lawyer and a strong advocate.” It is also noted that “she’s a real FCA specialist; she knows that world inside out.”In the 2022 edition of The Legal 500 UK, Sara is recognized as a ‘Leading Individual’ for Fraud: White-Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals), and also recognized for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime (Advice to Corporates). Clients in this edition described Sara as “an excellent attorney with a great ability to foresee case developments and act accordingly,” with “real criminal law skills but applied to complex white-collar work.” She is “the epitome of calm and has a steely nerve.”Sara has also been recognized in Best Lawyers 2022 for Financial Services.