Nathan Shaheen is a lawyer specializing in financial crimes, anti-money laundering and complex commercial litigation. He combines technical legal expertise with a practical focus on his clients’ business objectives.
Nathan’s financial crimes practice focuses on domestic and international fraud and asset recovery. He regularly investigates financial wrongdoing, traces and safeguards misappropriated assets and advances asset recovery litigation against perpetrators and third party facilitators of financial crimes. To do so, Nathan works collaboratively with external investigators, auditors and law enforcement agencies, and draws on his deep knowledge of Canada’s civil and criminal laws relating to fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes. As part of his international fraud and asset recovery practice, Nathan obtains the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards.
Nathan’s financial crimes practice includes advising financial institutions and non-financial services companies on Canada’s ever-evolving and increasingly-strict anti-money laundering laws. He advises on all aspects of anti-money laundering compliance, including under Canada’s Criminal Code and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, and evaluates and works to mitigate anti-money laundering risks arising from clients’ operational, cross-border and transactional activity. Nathan’s practice includes completing in-depth transactional due diligence on money laundering risks, and drafting and negotiating contractual terms to mitigate the risk of post-transaction enforcement activity, litigation and reputational harm.
Nathan also frequently advises clients on complex commercial litigation matters, including contractual, securities and professional negligence claims. He has appeared before Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Divisional Court and Court of Appeal, as well as before the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada. Nathan has also appeared before the Supreme Court of British Columbia and regularly volunteers in association with Pro Bono Law Ontario to support self-represented litigants.
Nathan is an affiliate of the Association of Certified Forensic Investigators of Canada and a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). He regularly authors articles in leading industry publications and speaks on various topics including fraud, asset tracing and anti-money laundering. Nathan has lectured on advanced commercial litigation at Osgoode Hall Law School and has served as a supervising lawyer to the Investor Protection Clinic. He is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association and the Advocates’ Society.