Margot Sève

These representations include the resolution of proceedings involving French and U.S. regulatory agencies and prosecutors relating to corruption, economic sanctions, money laundering, terrorism financing, market manipulation, financial fraud, blocking statute, banking secrecy and data protection.

Ms. Sève frequently advises clients on their compliance programs and risk assessments, as well as on matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, such as sanctions, corruption, money laundering and banking regulation due diligence. She also has counseled clients on compliance matters and conducted investigations in a variety of industries, such as financial and professional services, technology, media and telecommunications, manufacturing and natural resources.

Ms. Sève has extensive experience engaging with French and other local laws in the context of cross-border reviews (e.g., the French blocking statute and data protection, trade secret and employment laws).

Her experience includes advising, among others:

• Société Générale on investigations that led to settlements with various French and U.S. authorities concerning high-profile civil and criminal matters involving economic sanctions, corruption and market fraud
• a U.S. company and its French subsidiary in connection with a joint investigation by the EU Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and U.K. and Swiss authorities into alleged price fixing following dawn raids conducted by multiple authorities
• a European technology company in connection with an internal investigation concerning potential accounting fraud
• a French consumer-facing company in connection with an internal investigation concerning potential antitrust issues
• a French company in compliance matters
• a French technology company in connection with its anti-corruption risk mapping
• a French mining company with its Sapin II anti-corruption compliance program

Ms. Sève was named a 2023 Law.com International Rising Star as one of Europe’s “25 future female leaders in law” and was recognized in 2022 by The Legal 500, in which clients noted her “very professional work and clear and pragmatic opinions and recommendations.” Ms. Sève edits the “White Collar Crime and Compliance” chronicle in the Revue Trimestrielle de Droit Financier (Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Law Review) and is a published author. In particular, Ms. Sève has written dozens of articles on compliance, enforcement and financial regulation, as well as the book La Régulation Financière Face à la Crise (“Financial Regu­lation in the Face of the Crisis”). She holds a doctorate in international law and received the HEC/Allen & Overy Prize for her work on regulation. Ms. Sève also teaches internal investigations and co-manages the Compliance MBA of the Financia Business School.

Speaking Engagements

• “Corruption in Commercial and Investment Treaty Disputes: From Grey to Black and White?” Paris Arbitration Week 2024, hosted by Skadden, March 19, 2024
• “Lessons From the French Blocking Statute’s 2022 Reforms,” organised by Skadden, November 27, 2023
• “The Regulatory and Enforcement Risks Associated With the EU Digital Services Acts,” organised by Ondorse, January 2023 
• “The French Blocking Statute,” organised by the Women’s White Collar Defense Association, July 2021
• “Companies and Human Rights: New Obligations, New Tools and New Areas of Intervention,” Campus Avocats 2021, organised by the Paris Bar Association, July 8, 2021
• “The Debt” webinar (panel on regulation of Fintech in France), Panthéon-Assas law school, June 18, 2021
• “Défis déontologiques et écueils pratiques de l’avocat enquêteur : conflit d’intérêt, secret professionnel et indépendance” (The ethical and political challenges of lawyers as investigators: conflict of interest, professional secrecy and independence), Campus 2019, hosted by l’Ordre des avocats de Paris, July 3, 2019