By Kirstin Ridley
LONDON (Reuters) - The former head of the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will join prestigious London law firm Slaughter and May as a full-time consultant six months after leaving the investigator and prosecutor, the legal practice said on Tuesday.
David Green, who will start at the firm on October 22, follows a well-trodden path from public service into private practice. Tracey McDermott, the former enforcement head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulator, joined Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) Plc last year and is now group head of compliance.
Green, a lawyer who left the SFO in April after a six-year stint at its helm, would bring a "unique perspective" to the firm, which advises companies and individuals facing criminal and regulatory investigation across the world, Slaughter and May said in a statement.
He will not work on cases he was involved with at the SFO.
The practice, one of London's "magic circle" of top law firms, has advised a series of companies and individuals investigated by the SFO, including aero engine company Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) and Japan's medical equipment and camera maker Olympus and its subsidiaries.
Jonny Cotton, the co-head of Slaughter and May's Global Investigations Group, called it a "superb appointment".
Green has been credited with repositioning and energising a demoralised SFO and helping secure its independent future with a series of high-profile investigations into alleged criminality, such as the inquiry into Libor interest rate rigging.
He also secured the first deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), which allow prosecutors to suspend a prosecution for offences such as bribery if companies meet criteria and agree to pay a fine, accept remedial measures and appoint monitors.
However, other cases, such as unprecedented fraud charges filed against Barclays (LON:BARC) over undisclosed payments to Qatari investors in 2008, have been stymied.
An investigation into foreign exchange rigging was also dropped in 2016 and charging decisions have not been made in other top cases.
Green has been replaced at the SFO by Lisa Osofsky, a former U.S. federal prosecutor, whose career has included spells at the FBI, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and risk and compliance advisory firm Exiger.