Management and Legal

Attend the officials in reception as quickly as possible
Be polite
Take at least two people with you to help you to deal with the things you will need to coordinate
If you are not a member of the legal team, ask the Officials to wait for the legal team / external counsel to arrive
Tell them how long you expect them to be
They will generally wait a reasonable time (typically 30-60 minutes)
If it is a criminal investigation they are unlikely to wait
If you have not already received details of the lead Official's mobile telephone number, obtain it now

Contact external counsel and ask them to attend (reception may have done this already) - let them know how many Officials there are
Check external counsel have a copy of the Officials' documentation
Contact the IT team and ensure their availability
Contact senior managers and inform them of what is going on
Tell them to treat this as confidential and not to contact anyone else

Check which authority is conducting the investigation
Check that the name, address of the company being investigating and the date of the inspection are correct
Check that the location of the inspection is covered by the authorisation documents
Check that the date of the inspection is within any time period specified in the authorisation documents
Check that the Officials are all named in the authorisation documents and that each has a valid and current ID card
Check what type of authorisation documents the Officials have - their powers to search will vary according to the form of authorisation documents
Check whether is it a criminal or civil investigation. If you are in doubt, ask the Officials
Sign the minutes of notification. This evidences that the documents have been handed to the company and is not an admission of liability
If there appear to be any errors in the authorisation documentation, speak to external counsel before signing

Check that reception has booked out three meeting rooms for the rest of the day
Escort the Officials to a meeting room (their allocated room)
They will need at least one other room in which they can setup their IT equipment to carry out IT searches and / or to conduct searches of hardcopy files
Shadowers must accompany Officials into this room

The Officials will usually request a meeting with the legal team and a senior representative of the company before commencing the inspection
Assure the Officials that the company intends to co-operate fully with the investigation
The Officials may request a sitemap and personnel structure diagrams - provide these
The Officials may impose conditions, e.g. offices of certain individuals to be sealed, certain email accounts to be blocked. Agree to reasonable requests and engage IT where necessary
The Officials may want to station themselves around the building - allow this provided they are accompanied

Assemble and brief a team of shadowers on the scope of the investigation, its confidential nature, the need to co-operate and their role
Provide each shadower with a copy of the authorisation documents
Each shadower should follow their allocated Official and should not allow them to wander off alone
This includes carefully watching the review of any electronic data, including where this is done on the Officials' own IT equipment

The shadowers should ensure that no-one obstructs the investigation, that Officials only look at documents (hard copy and electronic) within the "scope" of the investigation
They should take a detailed note of where the Officials go and what they look at and make a list of all key words and names used

Identify key employees likely to be implicated and ascertain their whereabouts

If the Officials want to ask questions, politely request that the legal team or external lawyers are present.
Keep a note of questions and answers

Email all staff on the premises to inform them that the company is hosting Officials from the authority, who may wish to enter and inspect their offices
Inform all staff that the fact of the investigation is highly confidential and that they must not discuss this with anyone outside the company

Comply with Officials' requests to affix seals
Seals must be securely protected overnight and if appropriate guarded overnight
Always discuss with the legal team

Find out what the next steps are in the investigation and whether the Officials intend to return
Agree a timetable with them for providing any outstanding information
Request a copy of the list of documents which the Officials have reviewed and copied (take two copies: one for internal purposes and one for external counsel)
Take two copies of the sketch of the office and the document log form that the Officials have made; pay particular attention to the numbers on the seals used by the authority to seal the bags
Request a receipt and a copy of the documents taken
Ask to read the Officials' notes to check for accuracy; ask for a copy of the notes (although they may refuse to provide this)
Record any differences in opinion or disputes over documents; reserve the company's right of defence by reserving the right to challenge at a later date
Gather together anyone who has been involved in the raid for a debrief so that all information about the raid can be collected together
Liaise with any other site that had been raided
Prepare for next steps

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