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Alan Sarhan

Alan Sarhan

Partner
MontréalToronto
About

Alan Sarhan is a business lawyer with broad experience in corporate and commercial law, mergers & ‎acquisitions, engineering and construction law, international risk management, global trade and compliance, ‎economic sanctions, and export control.‎

Alan Sarhan developed extensive experience as a corporate commercial lawyer at a national law firm ‎having worked on a wide range of transactions in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, ‎engineering/construction, infrastructure, public private partnerships, and media/entertainment, before ‎joining the in-house team at one of the largest multinational engineering & construction firms in the world. ‎There he was on the M&A and infrastructure team before becoming the Legal Director of its Ethics & ‎Compliance Department. In that role he acquired a significant amount of experience in compliance program ‎development, crisis management, anti-corruption law, economic sanctions, government enforcement, ‎internal investigations and corporate monitorships.

‎Alan also advises a broad range of domestic and international clients on compliance ‎with modern slavery laws and how to best mitigate risks relating to human rights in their operations ‎and supply chains, as well as advising them on corporate reporting obligations, including those under ‎Canada’s new Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act.

In 2015, Alan co-founded the Canadian office of a boutique business integrity law firm where he ‎specialized in international risk management and global compliance having worked on files in Asia, Africa, ‎Europe and North America. He has particular expertise with integrity rules of various international financial ‎institutions, including the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank ‎and the European Investment Bank.‎

 
Areas of FocusCorporateMergers and AcquisitionsInfrastructure, Construction and TransportTechnology and Commercial TransactionsInternational TradeWhite Collar and Corporate CrimeConstruction and EngineeringGlobal InvestigationsComplianceEmerging Growth and Venture CapitalGovernment ContractingProjects and Project FinanceReal Estate
Bar admissionsQuebec, 2006Ontario, 2023

EXPERIENCE

  • Member of the negotiating team representing a Canadian multinational in its discussions with the Royal ‎Canadian Mounted Police with respect to criminal charges laid against the Company pursuant to the ‎Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.‎
  • Conducted an internal investigation into allegations of insider trading resulting from a probe by the ‎Quebec securities regulator (‎Autorité des marchés financiers)‎
  • Appointed by a multi-lateral development bank to investigate allegations of corruption and collusion in ‎the Egyptian power sector
  • Engaged by a real estate conglomerate to advise on risks associated with money laundering and ‎economic sanctions and investigate allegations of a business partner laundering money and violating ‎economic sanctions. ‎
  • Engaged by a Canadian publicly listed satellite company to conduct an internal investigation into ‎allegations of corruption reported by a member of the board of director
  • Managed numerous large-scale document collection efforts in response to various law enforcement and ‎regulatory actions by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Competition Bureau, Elections Canada, ‎UPAC (Quebec Provincial Police Anti-Corruption unit), the Quebec securities regulator (‎Autorité des ‎marchés financiers), the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and ‎the Asian Development Ban
  •  Appointed co-lead of a two-and-half year corporate monitorship of a Japanese multinational with ‎‎335,000 employees and a market cap of USD 30B
  • Appointed co-lead of a three-year corporate monitorship of a Canadian multinational with 50,000 ‎employees and a market cap of CAD 8B
  • Lead the stakeholder engagement plan between the a Canadian multinational and the Government of ‎Canada which led to the entering into of the first ever Administrative Agreement between the ‎Government of Canada and a Company pursuant to the Government of Canada’s Integrity Regime.‎
  • Engaged by a Canadian based global manufacturer of recreational vehicles to set up its reporting and ‎whistleblowing systems, intake ‎procedures and investigative protocols
  • Engaged by a Canadian aerospace company to set up its reporting and whistleblowing systems, intake ‎‎procedures and investigative protocols as well as to evaluate the integrity of certain ‎principal suppliers
  • Engaged by a Canadian crown corporation to set up its reporting and whistleblowing systems, intake ‎‎procedures and investigative protocols
  • Engaged by a Canadian multinational to perform a comprehensive and holistic review of its integrity ‎compliance program and implement recommendations with a view to bringing the client’s integrity ‎compliance program in line with recognized international standards ‎Engaged by a Canadian pension fund to evaluate the integrity of all of their real estate investment ‎partners
  • Investigated numerous code of ethics related violations, including investigations relating to alleged ‎misconduct senior executives within various organizations
     
Languages
  • English
  • French
  • Arabic
Education
  • M.B.A. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2019 - Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA (joint program)
  • LL.B., Université de Montréal, 2005
  • B.A., Concordia University, 2001 (with distinction)

Awards

  • Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Corporate/Commercial‎), Lawyers to Watch, 2020
  • In-House Counsel of the Year Finalist, Young Bar Association of Montreal, 2013

Publications

  • Co-Author, "World Bank Group v. Wallace: what happens when the cooperation between international organisations and local law enforcement goes wrong"
  • Co-Author, "World Bank Group v. Wallace: International Organizations' Immunities and the Fight Against ‎Corruption", June 20, 2016‎

Seminars

  • Speaker, "Compliance Programs - Legal Perspective", Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, ‎November ‎‎7-10, 2021‎
  • Speaker, "White Collar Crime", Investigations and Compliance Symposium, October 5, 2021‎
  • Speaker, "A Review of the World Bank v Wallace Supreme Court of Canada Case", International ‎Administrative Law Centre of Excellence, October 31st and November 1st, 2016, London, England‎
  • Panelist, "Fraud, Competition and Corruption Investigation Developments", Northwind Professional ‎Institute’s Inaugural Legal & Regulatory Investigations Invitational Forum 2016, September 27-28, 2016, ‎Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ontario
  • Moderator, "Les enquêtes internes et externes pour détecter et remédier aux cas d’inconduite dans les ‎entreprises", Governance, Compliance and Ethics Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Quebec ‎Branch), June 8, 2016, Montreal, Quebec
  • Guest lecturer, "Corporate governance and and prevention of corporate misconduct",  Université de ‎Sherbrooke, March 9, 2016, Montreal, Quebec
  • Panelist, 3rd Edition, Insight Corporate Compliance Forum – Topical Issues in Anti-Bribery, Corruption ‎and Compliance - Panelist Internal Investigations and Government Investigations June 17th – 18th, 2016 ‎Toronto, Ontario
     

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Barreau du Québec
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Executive Committee Member of the Governance, Compliance and Ethics Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Quebec Branch)
  • Transparency International (Canada)
 

My latest insights

Publication

DLA Piper’s Sanctions Matrix Quarterly Update – October 2024

15 October 2024 .2 minute read

Publication

Key takeaways from the 2024 Annual Report on forced labour and child labour in supply...

7 October 2024 .7 minute read

Publication

G7 guidance published on Russian sanctions evasion

2 October 2024 .9 minute read

View All

Connect

Phone

+1 514 392 8415
(Work, Montréal)
+1 416 369 5271
(Work, Toronto)
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