Law firm Withers has created a new role in the form of head of international regulatory and corporate crime, hiring Gerallt Owen, a high-profile lawyer and advisor on major cases. Other former colleagues of Owen at Crowell & Moring, another law firm, are also joining Withers.

Owen joins as a partner; at Crowell & Moring, he was head of international regulatory and corporate crime. He is “currently recommended as a leading individual in the Chambers & Partners fraud rankings”, Withers said.

The lawyers are due to start their new positions in July.

He has advised on investigations and proceedings brought by the Serious Fraud Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, Health & Safety Executive, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, HM Revenue & Customs and the Financial Services Authority. Owen has been listed in The Lawyer's "Hot 100" and serves as a consultant editor for the LexisNexis publication Fraud: Law, Practice and Procedure. Among other activities, he is a contributor to the forthcoming 2012 edition of the PLC Corporate Crime, Fraud and Investigations Multi-Jurisdictional Guide.

A team of senior lawyers and support staff are joining Withers along with Owen, including two senior counsel, Anne Davies and Fiona Simpson.

Davies advises companies and individuals on health and safety, product liability, environmental, financial crime and corporate governance matters, and Simpson specialises in civil fraud and professional discipline, advising corporations, financial institutions and individuals in a range of commercial disputes.

Although the team will be based in London, Owen “will spend a significant part of the year working with Asian clients in Singapore”, Withers said. The law firm recently announced the opening of a new office in the city state.

The team adds to Withers’ commercial litigation practice, which now has more than 70 litigation lawyers in Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and the US. Litigation accounts for half of the revenues of the London office.