Sullivan & Cromwell has hired Simmons & Simmons white collar crime partner Louise Delahunty as a European counsel in the London office.

Delahunty (pictured) will join the US firm on 20 June in its criminal defense and investigations group.

The longstanding Simmons partner played a key role in setting up Simmons' crime, fraud and investigations group when she joined the firm in 2006 from Peters & Peters, a move which saw Simmons become the first major City firm to take a serious step into the fraud arena.

She was currently one of eight partners focusing on the area for Simmons in London and one of the key partners alongside group head Nick Benwell.

She had been at Peters & Peters for 15 years prior to joining Simmons and was also the former chair of the Law Society's Money Laundering Task Force and a member of the Treasury-appointed Money Laundering Advisory Committee.

Delahunty is triple-qualified in England & Wales, Ireland and Hong Kong and advises on all aspects of business-related crime issues, including the UK Bribery Act, anti-money laundering compliance and white-collar criminal investigations.

Sullivan's firmwide criminal defense and investigations group head Karen Seymour commented: "Louise is regarded as a leader in the white-collar area, and she will help us to continue to serve our international clients in bribery investigations, anti-money laundering compliance and other criminal investigations."

Delahunty added: "Sullivan's international platform and leading financial institutions practice make this an exceptional opportunity for me."