RPC has made a senior addition to its regulatory team with the hire of Sam Tate, EMEA anti-corruption head at financial crime consultancy Exiger.

Tate – who provided legal advice to new Serious Fraud Office (SFO) director Lisa Osofsky during her time at Exiger – joins the City law firm as a partner.

At Exiger he served as legal head of its London office, as well as head of anti-corruption for EMEA. Tate worked closely with Osofsky – who formerly headed Exiger's EMEA investigations unit – on anti-corruption issues and compliance monitorships for global banks.

RPC global commercial disputes head Tom Hibbert commented: "Landing Sam is a major coup for us. We are very pleased that he has chosen to build out his practice at RPC. Regulatory is a major strategic focus for the firm.

"His experience and relationships – not least in the SFO – present a number of exciting opportunities for us. White-collar enforcement is a growing area of work for law firms, driven by the improved funding for the SFO, an increase in investigations under the Bribery Act, and the SFO's more aggressive approach."

Tate, a former Clifford Chance lawyer and senior in-house counsel at BP, spent just shy of three years at Exiger. His departure comes not long after Osofsky was confirmed as the next director of the SFO, following a long period of speculation over who would succeed David Green QC in the role.

On his motivations for his move, Tate said: "Clients are looking for breadth and depth of advice in their regulatory practice. You might expect anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, but at RPC we can also advise on healthy and safety, GDPR, modern slavery and environmental issues. Clients will be experts themselves, so they want it all under one roof.

"Another key area is technology, where we have RPC Consulting. It's difficult to imagine anti-corruption moving forward without a more active relationship with technology. Clients expect it, and the new head of the SFO has said technology is necessary for progress.

"It's also a great time to be working in this area. There were two big decisions recently which affect anti-corruption: the ENRC litigation privilege decision, and also the KBR decision. Both will require the greater engagement of law firms. If you're in compliance, those won't be areas you can advise on because that would constitute legal advice."

When asked about how he plans to engage with his former colleague Osofsky, Tate said: "I'll work with her as lawyers at other firms work with her in the community. She indicated that she wants to have engagement and a positive relationship with the legal community. Obviously that's welcome and we'll see what happens. It's early days for her. I think the community generally wishes her well as she starts off in her role."