Nicolas Bourtin is the Managing Partner of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group and a co-head of the Firm’s FCPA and Anti-Corruption Group. His practice spans multiple areas of white collar criminal defense, including anti-corruption, accounting fraud, criminal antitrust, sanctions, anti-money laundering and securities fraud. He combines his tenure as a federal prosecutor with nearly two decades of experience guiding many of the world’s largest multinational companies through their highest stakes matters. He has led a multitude of internal investigations around the world and has defended some of S&C’s most prominent clients, such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Eni, Barclays, TD Bank, Standard Chartered and Popular in investigations and litigation. Mr. Bourtin has conducted numerous jury trials and argued frequently before federal and state appellate courts.
Mr. Bourtin previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where he was involved in investigations, prosecutions and trials involving fraud, corruption, money laundering and other white collar offenses. He successfully prosecuted the bosses and senior leadership of the New York City-based Italian mafia families for crimes such as murder, racketeering, extortion, loansharking and narcotics trafficking and was involved in several historic prosecutions, including the first death penalty-eligible murder indictments of Italian mafia bosses in modern history. He also coordinated the Eastern District’s cooperation with the Italian government on matters involving organized crime and led several successful collaborative efforts with the Italian Ministry of Justice, National Antimafia Bureau, National Police, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza.
He is consistently recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of white collar criminal defense. Chambers USA has described him as “unflappable,” “exceptionally knowledgeable” and an “incredible practitioner” whose advice is “totally reliable,” and has noted his “strengths across litigation work and investigatory work, with expertise in areas including FCPA, financial fraud and antitrust issues.” He was named “Investigations Professional of the Year” by Global Investigations Review in the inaugural presentation of the award in 2021.
