The officials have arrived, introduced themselves, and have asked to see a particular person or the company's most senior member of management on the premises. You should:
Remain
- Calm, polite, and co-operative.
Arrange
- For the company's most senior member of management and, if available, the most senior lawyer on-site, to meet the officials.
- Move the officials into a meeting room that does not contain any files or access to the company's IT system.
- Explain that someone will be down to meet them shortly. In the meantime, take three copies of their inspection mandate and obtain contact details for the official in charge.
Contact
- If you have external competition lawyers on stand-by, then call them and ask them to attend immediately.
- If you have no such existing arrangement, then please contact a Pinsent Masons Dawn Raid specialist.
- If you need immediate assistance, then please call us now.
Obtain information
- Check inspection mandate and give the external lawyers details of which authority the officials represent, how many officials there are, and scan/email to the lawyers a copy of the inspection mandate.
- Ask the external lawyers by telephone to confirm the nature of the investigation: which authority is undertaking the investigation; is it civil or criminal; do the officials have a search warrant?
- Ask the external lawyers to indicate when they are likely to arrive.
- The European Commission has very limited powers to carry out dawn raids in the UK after the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020. It can only do so if the European Commission had initiated an EU investigation before that date.