Alvarez & Marsal appointed Sergio Fernando Moro managing director in its disputes and investigations group in São Paulo, Brazil
Moro specializes in leading anti-corruption, white-collar crime, anti-money laundering and organized crime investigations as well as advising clients on strategy and proactive regulatory compliance. He has more than 20 years of legal and investigative experience, including serving as the minister of justice and public security of Brazil from 2019 to 2020. As minister, he developed special programs to reduce violent crimes and protect Brazil’s frontiers and was responsible for the drafting and enactment of federal laws around seizing and expropriating assets related to drug trafficking and other serious criminal activity. He also created a special channel of communication between the private sector and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security to help facilitate communication of alleged wrongdoing.
Prior to this, Moro served as a Brazilian federal judge for more than 20 years. During his tenure, he served as the presiding judge in complex Brazil-based and international criminal cases, including Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato), a massive criminal investigation in Brazil that began as a money laundering case and evolved into a far-reaching corruption crackdown involving bribery and misappropriation of public funds by high political authorities. Lava Jato generated an anti-corruption wave not only in Brazil but in all Latin America. Both as a minister and as a federal judge, Moro collaborated with authorities from countries across Latin America, North America and Europe relating to investigating international criminal cases around bribery, money laundering, drug trafficking and organized crime.
His hire builds on A&M’s bench strength of former government officials, including Steve Spiegelhalter, former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor; Bill Waldie, retired FBI special agent; Anita Alvarez, former Cook County State’s attorney in Chicago; Robert DeCicco, former civilian employee of the National Security Agency,; Paul Sharma, former deputy head of the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority; and Suzanne Maughan, former lead investigator with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Enforcement and Financial Crime Division and seconded investigator to the Serious Fraud Office.
“We strive to incorporate into our investigations our managing directors’ unique regulatory, prosecutorial and law enforcement experience, driving focus on what matters to regulators, increasing efficiency and reducing cost. Sergio’s experience as Brazil’s minister of justice and public security along with his extensive anti-corruption, white-collar crime and anti-money laundering experience will reinforce our ability to address clients’ issues,” Spiegelhalter, who serves as managing director and North America investigations practice leader at A&M, said.
“Sergio’s expertise aligns with A&M’s heritage of operational excellence and our commitment to bringing to our Latin American clients local and international government and regulatory expertise. Sergio’s appointment enhances our ability to help clients navigate complex regulatory issues leveraging our leadership, action, results approach,” Marcos Ganut, managing director with A&M’s infrastructure and capital projects practice and leader of disputes and investigations in São Paulo, said.
“A&M’s integrated model and bench of senior leaders who previously served in government and regulatory roles mirrors my background and creates a strong foundation for delivering solutions across Brazil, South America and internationally,” Moro said. “I look forward to building on the firm’s legacy of driving change and helping clients solve current challenges while anticipating future ones.”
In 2016, Moro was included in The Time 100, Bloomberg’s Fifty Most Influential People and Fortune’s The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. In 2018, he was the Brazilian recipient of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce’s Person of the Year award, and in 2019 was recognized by the Financial Times as one of 50 people who shaped the decade.
