Key Considerations in Financial Crime Related Investigations

Fraud, corruption and money laundering present significant, and rapidly increasing, risks for Canadian businesses. Addressing these risks demands a different investigations playbook.

Part 4 of our Investigations series addresses the key considerations in financial crime related investigations: goals, scope, evidence gathering, fact-finding, and decision-making associated with law enforcement, regulatory issues, and recovery. 

Key considerations in financial crime related investigations

A successful outcome depends on sound judgments and careful implementation.

Assessing the organization’s position

• Victim, witness, potentially liable? A combination?
• This defines the objectives, scope, and nature of the investigation.
• Re-test that judgment as evidence is gathered.

Preserve, access and review evidence swiftly and reliably

• Which sources are within the organization's power, possession or control?
• Destruction and alteration risks must be prevented.
• Personal devices are an evidentiary gold mine, and highly private.

Taking statements where stakes may be criminal

• Care in preparation and execution.
• Fairness, including whether the witness has counsel.
• Choice of recording method.

Whether to seek extraordinary civil remedies

• Recovery options narrow as assets move and tip-off risk rises.
• Evidence is lost as time passes and perpetrators are on notice.

Is reporting required or advisable?

• Whether, when and how to report must be re-considered over time.
• Obligation to report to regulators? Auditors?
• Option to report to police, plus suspicious transaction reporting.

The bottom line

In financial crime matters, judgment sets the goals, scope and nature of the investigation.

Careful implementation achieves success.

Want to learn more?

Join us for Risk, Reputation and Response: Navigating Internal Investigations.

Monday, September 21, 2026 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET

Please contact clientevents@mccarthy.ca if you are interested in attending. 

Internal Investigations: Triggers, Scope, and Consequences Series

• Part 1: When Should you Conduct an Internal Investigation?
• Part 2: Key Considerations for In-House Counsel
• Part 3: How Should You Scope an Internal Investigation?