Overview

Chris is counsel in our Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring group based in the Cayman Islands.  He has extensive experience of acting on commercial litigation and arbitration matters, with particular experience of banking and financial services disputes, shareholder and investor disputes, contentious insurance claims, and distressed fund issues.  

Chris was previously a member of the in-house litigation team at Barclays Bank in London, where he was Head of Litigation and co-head of the broader Litigation, Investigations & Enforcement team for the EME region.  Chris has extensive experience of advising on the full spectrum of contentious banking issues spanning retail, commercial, investment and private banking.  In addition to litigation matters, Chris also has wide ranging experience of advising on contentious regulatory issues and investigations.

Prior to his time at Barclays, Chris practised for 5 years at another Cayman firm.  He trained and spent the first years of his career with Herbert Smith (as the firm then was) in London, where he was a member of their market-leading contentious insurance team.

Expertise

Work Highlights

Banking and financial services

  • Advising a major UK bank in managing its exposures resulting from alleged frauds concerning the UAE Exchange and NMC Health companies in the UAE, including enforcing a director’s personal guarantees and pursuing a multi-jurisdictional recoveries strategy.
  • Advising a major UK bank on a USD850m commodities trading dispute brought by various hedge funds alleging the misuse of confidential information and abusive trading practices.
  • Advising a major UK bank on its portfolio of interest rate hedging products mis-selling claims.
  • Advising a major UK bank in defending claims relating to the sale of structured notes, including related civil and criminal proceedings in the UAE.
  • Advising a major UK bank on its portfolio of payments litigation, including fraud, constructive trust, restitutionary, and Quincecare claims.
  • Advising a major UK bank on group litigation brought by borrowers concerning a legacy mortgage product and related securitisation issues.
  • Advising a major UK bank on group and class action litigation raising competition claims arising from alleged benchmark and FX rate manipulation.
  • Advising a major UK bank on regulatory investigations concerning its financial crime/anti-money laundering controls.

Fraud claims

  • Acting for a Saudi Arabian businessman in defending proceedings alleging fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty, including challenging freezing relief obtained in the sum of US$9.2 billion and advising on Cayman aspects of worldwide litigation strategy.
  • Acting for a major energy company in pursuing a US$316 million fraud claim arising out of a geothermal power project in Indonesia and related arbitration proceedings.

Fund litigation

  • Acting for a US-based fund of funds on redemption and gating issues concerning a Cayman fund.
  • Advising a major UK bank in defending redemption claw-back claims brought by liquidators following the Madoff fraud.
  • Advising investors on matters arising from the Madoff fraud and claims against Cayman feeder funds, including obtaining winding up orders against the Rye Select feeder funds.

Insurance litigation

  • Acting for insurers on various property insurance disputes, including litigation and arbitration claims in Cayman concerning hurricane damage and business interruption losses.
  • Advising a major UK bank on coverage issues concerning D&O, E&O and crime/fraud policies.

 

Qualifications and Admissions

  • Attorney at Law, Cayman Islands, 2022
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 2000 (non-practising)
  • Solicitor Advocate of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 2004 (non-practising)
  • University of Manchester, LLB (Hons) First Class, 1996

Prior Career History

  • Barclays Bank Plc, London (2010-2022)
  • Appleby, Cayman Islands (2005-2010)
  • Herbert Smith, London (1998-2005)

Professional Associations

  • Law Society of England and Wales
  • Cayman Islands Professional Lawyers Association

Publications and News

Articles