Christophe Emonet heads the Litigation and the White-Collar Crime groups. As a leading Swiss litigation and white-collar crime lawyer, he specialises in national and international banking, commercial and corporate liability disputes, as well as investigations and regulatory and white-collar crime matters, including corporate and financial fraud and corruption. Furthermore, Christophe has extensive experience in asset recovery and cross-border bankruptcies and advises clients in complex estate matters.
His clients include major financial institutions, multinational corporations, states and state-owned companies, as well as high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) who request his support and strategic guidance for complex matters and negotiations.
With more than 20 years of experience, Christophe has handled some of the most complex banking and commercial disputes, regulatory matters, investigations and insolvency proceedings.
Past and current highlights:
- Represented a foreign banker in the Swiss and Italian investigations related to the Parmalat, resulting in the prosecuting authorities deciding not to pursue charges.
- Advised and represented a high-net-worth individual in the investigations of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland and the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) related to British Aerospace, culminating in prosecuting authorities deciding not to pursue charges.
- Representing 40+ banks in the global restructuring and orderly liquidation of a major commodities trading company headquartered in Switzerland.
- Defended a public Swiss-listed bank through the largest-ever criminal investigation (with a five‑month trial and multi-year pre-investigation phase) and commercial dispute against former directors and auditors in relation to a loss of 3 billion Swiss francs.
- Represented Swiss banks in the U.S. Department of Justice Swiss Bank Program and advised a bank on the sale of its offshore and fiduciary activities across 40+ jurisdictions, conducting a strategic review of regulatory, compliance and cross-selling issues
- Leading the defence in large-scale Swiss and foreign investigations, commercial disputes and worldwide recovery actions for the former CEO of a major foreign pension fund and now his estate.
- Representing a giant oil company, a victim of one of the largest ever corruption scandals, in all its recovery civil actions and in numerous ongoing criminal proceedings in Switzerland.
- Assisting a foreign public investment fund in the context of a multi-billion-franc scam, including related banking disputes and recovery actions.
- Assisting one of the major shareholders of a family-held multinational on estate planning issues.
- Conducting a multitude of internal investigations for foreign and Swiss corporations.
Christophe Emonet’s expertise has been recognised for over two decades by the leading legal directories, including Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal), Best Lawyers, Benchmark Litigation and IFLR1000. He is ranked as a leading practitioner for commercial and banking disputes and white-collar crime cases. He is also listed as an asset recovery and insolvency expert. Most recent quotes include:
- The Legal 500 (2025) – "The team is led by Christophe Emonet, a litigation powerhouse who gives his all to his clients and is an extremely gifted lawyer."
- Chambers & Partners (2025) – "Christophe Emonet is able to think about international problems on a strategic level. He thinks about what will work for the client, with proper, strategic judgement."
- The Legal 500 (2025) – "Christophe Emonet is probably one of Switzerland's top 3 lawyers in his chosen fields. He has an immense legal culture, an innate sense of strategy and unrivalled negotiating skills. We systematically retain him for complex, non-standard cases, in which he excels, whether they are of a litigious, investigative or transactional nature."
- The Legal 500 (2024) – "Christophe Emonet is a standout leader in this area and has exceptional experience in coordinating international defence strategy across civil and common law jurisdictions."
- The Legal 500 (2024) – "Christophe Emonet is a superstar who thinks through all the issues and leaves no stone unturned in finding an answer."
- Chambers & Partners (2023) – "He has an excellent sense of how to anticipate and navigate difficult issues."
Christophe Emonet graduated from the University of Geneva in 1996 (MLaw), was admitted to the Bar in 1998 and became a partner in 2004. Before joining Pestalozzi in 1999, Christophe Emonet worked with barristers and solicitors in London. In the course of his career, he also served for one year as foreign associate in two major law firms in Madrid and Buenos Aires.
