Chloë Bell

Chloë is recognised as an up and coming junior in commercial litigation and arbitration. She has significant experience as sole counsel obtaining interim injunctions in the High Court. She obtained one of the first worldwide freezing injunctions and asset preservation orders in English courts in relation to cryptoassets. She also has experience obtaining Norwich Pharmacal and Banker’s Trust orders and related orders for alternative service and service out of the jurisdiction.

Chloë sits on the Executive Committee of COMBAR.

Examples of Chloë’s recent and ongoing cases:

• Campbell Gray Hotels Ltd v The Machrie Hotel Limited (ongoing): Currently instructed as junior counsel to Tim Collingwood QC in a multi-million pound commercial court claim for a repudiatory breach of contract.
• Chechetkin v Payward Ltd (t/a Kraken) (ongoing): Successfully resisted (unled) Payward’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the English court [2022] EWHC 3057 (Ch). Instructed to challenge the enforceability of arbitrator’s award following parallel proceedings in California on the basis that it contravenes public policy pursuant to section 103 of the Arbitration Act 1996.
• Midi France Telecom SAS v Visa Europe Limited (ongoing): Instructed by Visa to challenge the law applicable to a tort claim brought in England under French law relating to overseas transaction fees.
• LCIA-DIFC Arbitration (2022): Instructed in a dispute relating to the enforceability of restrictive covenants following the termination of an employment contract.
• Farrag and Gulf Ltd v Alin (BL-2021-002017): Obtained a proprietary injunction and disclosure order in relation to the misappropriation of a luxury car.
• Lubin Betancourt Reyes (2) Custodial Management Solutions v (1)-(3) Persons Unknown (4) Tether Holdings Limited (5) Binance Holdings Limited (unreported, April 2021, London Circuit Commercial Court): Chloë acted as sole counsel and successfully obtained a worldwide freezing order and an asset preservation order against Persons Unknown together with permission to serve out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means. She also successfully obtained a Norwich Pharmacal and Banker’s Trust Order together with permission to serve out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means against D4 and D5.
• Bluewaters Communications Holdings v (1) Bayerische Landesbank Anstalt des Offentlichen Rechts (2) Bernard Charles Ecclestone and (3) Bambino Holidings Limited (2018): junior counsel in commercial court claim concerning alleged bribery in the sale Formula 1.
• Shurbanova v FX Capital markets LLC [2017] EWHC 2133: junior counsel led by Farhaz Khan. Acted for the successful defendant in a breach of contract claim. The Court accepted FXCM’s defence that the claimant’s profitable trades were the result of market abuse and ‘front running’.

Chloë has a busy financial services practice acting for both regulators and private clients. She spent 3 months on secondment in the General Counsel’s Division at the Financial Conduct Authority in 2019. During this period of time she gained significant insight into a wide range of financial services matters from the regulator’s perspective.

Chloë has experience of large-scale financial services enquiries as well as acting for regulators in their enforcement capacity. She has acted as counsel for Lloyd’s of London in a number of enforcement cases.

Examples of Chloë’s recent cases:

• Group claims against crypto exchanges (ongoing) Chloë is instructed by a number of groups of claimants bringing claims for breach of FSMA 2000 and FCA Handbook rules by crypto exchanges for providing financial products to investors in breach of the general prohibition and rules on financial promotions.
• Large-scale regulatory inquiry into non-financial misconduct (ongoing): Chloë is currently junior counsel to Farhaz Khan KC in a large scale inquiry by a regulator into non-financial misconduct by firms and individuals.
• The Lloyd’s Enforcement Board v Atrium Underwriters (2022): Chloë was instructed by Lloyd’s of London led by Farhaz Khan KC in Lloyd’s first ever enforcement proceedings for non-financial misconduct. The proceedings resulted in the largest ever fine being issued to a firm by the regulator: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60767614.
• The Lloyd’s Enforcement Board v Mr Gregory White (2021): Chloë acted as sole counsel for Lloyd’s of London which successfully brought enforcement proceedings against Mr Gregory White (a private client director at Hampden Agencies Ltd) for discreditable conduct due to his involvement in the facilitation of loans between members of the Society who were clients of his employer in return for commission payments.
• Murphy and others v Lloyd’s Bank plc: junior counsel led by Farhaz Khan concerning consequential losses and the mis-selling of a swap by Lloyd’s bank. Settled before trial.
• Shurbanova v FX Capital markets LLC [2017] EWHC 2133: junior counsel led by Farhaz Khan. Acted for the successful defendant in a breach of contract claim. The Court accepted FXCM’s defence that the claimant’s profitable trades were the result of market abuse and ‘front running’.
• Advisory work: Chloë regularly advises clients on financial services law. She has advised clients on the mis-selling of pensions products and on the effects of a restitution order under section 382 of FSMA for the liquidators of an insolvent company.

Chloë is one of few genuine experts in cryptoasset litigation at the London Bar and is instructed on some of the most cutting edge cases in this area.

Chloë is a Band 1 ranked barrister by Chambers and Partners in the law of cryptoassets:

“She is one of the handful of my absolute go-tos in this space. Her capabilities in this area and experience enable her to handle difficult cases with serene control and confidence.”

“She’s one of the top juniors. She has really good technical knowledge which is helpful on crypto claims.”

“She’s imaginative, punchy, bright, willing to get stuck in and easy to work with.”

“Very bold, imaginative and willing to take a punchy or robust position. Very user-friendly, she is forging an excellent reputation for herself.”

She has also been nominated as the Technology, Data and Crypto Junior of the Year in the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023.

Notable cases in which Chloë has been involved:

• Payward Inc v Chechetkin [2023] EWHC 1780 (Comm) – Chloë successfully challenged the enforceability of a Californian arbitration award made in favour of the Kraken cryptoasset exchange on the rare ground of public policy. It is the first challenge of its kind in the cryptoasset space in the English jurisdiction. This enabled her client to pursue his claim against the Kraken exchange under FSMA 2000 in the English courts which is also the first claim of this nature filed in English courts.
• Chechetkin v Payward Ltd[2022] EWHC 3057 (Ch) – Chloë successfully resisted Payward Ltd’s challenge the jurisdiction of the English High Court.
• Group claims against crypto exchanges (ongoing) – Chloë is instructed by hundreds of claimants bringing claims for breach of FSMA 2000 and FCA Handbook rules by crypto exchanges for providing financial products to investors in breach of the general prohibition and rules on financial promotions.
• Injunctive relief – Chloë regularly appears in injunction proceedings (for claimants and defendants) in cases involving digital assets. She is regularly instructed on freezing and proprietary injunctions, disclosure orders and applications for permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction. Notable injunction cases include:
  • Tai Mo Shan Limited v Oazo Apps Limited (6 March 2023, Commercial Court, HHJ Pelling KC) – Chloë acted for Oazo Apps in which the applicant sought a mandatory injunction requiring code to be written to transfer stolen cryptocurrency to a trust wallet held by the victim’s solicitors.
  • Ellis v Digit Europe Limited (Company No. 12340858)(Commercial Court) (CL-2021-000753) – junior counsel for a defendant in one of the first contested injunction return dates involving allegations of a multi-million pound cryptocurrency fraud. In a last minute change of position the claimant agreed to withdraw its application against Chloë’s client and to discontinue the claim against it.
  • Mr Dollar Bill Limited v Huobi (unreported, 14 January 2022, Chancery Division, Deputy Master Marsh) – Chloë obtained one of the first delivery up orders of Bitcoin held in a Huobi wallet for the victim of a crypto fraud.
  • Lubin Betancourt Reyes (2) Custodial Management Solutions v (1)-(3) Persons Unknown (4) Tether Holdings Limited (5) Binance Holdings Limited (unreported, April 2021, London Circuit Commercial Court) – Chloë acted as sole counsel and successfully obtained a worldwide freezing order and an asset preservation order against Persons Unknown together with permission to serve out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means. She also successfully obtained a Norwich Pharmacal and Banker’s Trust Order together with permission to serve out of the jurisdiction and by alternative means against D4 and D5. The case concerned the misappropriation of USD Tether by Persons Unknown
• Ms C v HSBC (Financial Ombudsman Service, DRN-840917) – Chloë successfully obtained compensation on behalf of her client from HSBC for breach resulting from a cryptoasset related APP fraud on the basis of Quincecare principles before the FOS: Financial Ombudsman Decision
• Taxation of cryptoassets – in her capacity as a member of the Attorney General’s C Panel of counsel Chloë has advised HMRC on the application of capital gains tax to cryptoassets.
• Other Advisory work – Chloë regularly advises entities providing digital asset products and facilities facing litigation and individual investors. Notable advisory work has included:
  • The prospects of successfully obtaining a freezing injunction in a group crypto fraud case.
  • The impact of the de-centralised structure of digital asset entities and the impact of such structures on traditional English legal principles and litigation.
  • The FCA’s regulatory perimeter as it applies to cryptoassets.
  • The likely remedies available to claimants for breaches of FSMA 2000 involving cryptoassets.
  • Jurisdiction and law applicable to various cryptoasset disputes.
  • The enforceability of boiler plate clauses in cryptoasset exchange general terms of service.

Chloë has also advised foreign jurisdictions on appropriate reforms to their laws to facilitate the integration of cryptoassets into their financial systems.

Chloë not only acts as an advocate in cases before the English courts, but she is heavily involved in academic discussion and consultations concerning the development of English law on cryptoassets. She led COMBAR and the Chancery Bar Association’s Response to the Law Commissions recent consultation on digital assets, she is regularly invited to speak at conferences on digital assets and has written various articles on challenging topics in this area.

Chloë is the co-author (with Hodge Malek KC and James Potts) of the forthcoming chapter on Cryptoassets in The Law of Financial Services (OUP, forthcoming).

Chloë sits on the Steering Committee of the Tech Disputes Network.

Chloë is a Band 4 ranked pensions barrister (Chambers and Partners 2023) and a Rising Star (Legal 500):

“She delivers very good service, she was fully plugged in very quickly and she was quick to get into the team.”

“Chloë has a super-sized brain”

“Chloë is very intelligent and user-friendly. She is a pleasure to work with and gets on top of issues very quickly”

Her pensions practice includes a number of matters before domestic courts and tribunals as well as international courts.

Chloë has experience in a wide range of pensions matters including cases raising issues of equalisation, rectification, professional negligence, construction of trust documents, Courage fetters, section 75 debts and Pensions Ombudsman proceedings.

Examples of Chloë’s recent cases:

• Trustees of the Leggett & Platt Pension Assurance Scheme (2022): junior counsel to Farhaz Khan KC in a professional negligence claim relating to the closure of a scheme and the preservation of the final salary link.
• Re Atos Railways Pension Scheme (2021): previously junior counsel in a Part 8 claim raising issues of construction of the Railways Pension Scheme established under the Railways Act 1993.
• Re LMPA (2021): junior counsel to Richard Hitchcock QC in a rectification claim relating to the closure of a defined benefit scheme to future accrual.
• Mr Robin Phillips & 69 Others v Edwards Limited (2020): junior counsel to Richard Hitchcock QC and Lydia Seymour in a case concerning the scope of the exclusion of pension rights transferring under the TUPE Regulations and its interaction with redundancy benefits contained in a pension scheme. Settled before trial.
• Briggs & ors v Clay & ors (2019): junior counsel to Ben Hubble QC and Saaman Pourghadiri in a £60,000,000 multi-party professional negligence claim listed for an 8-week trial arising from the judgment of Newey J in Re Gleeds [2014] EWHC 1178 (Ch). Settled on day one of trial.
• C-171/18 Safeway v Newton & Ors EU:C:2019:839: junior counsel to Andrew Short QC and Michael Uberoi in the Court of Justice of the European Union (Luxembourg) concerning the retrospective levelling down and equalisation of pension benefits.
• Various advisory matters: Chloë regularly provides advice on a range of pension matters, including government pension schemes.

Chloë gained vast experience in public law matters at the highest level as a judicial assistant at the UK Supreme Court.

Since returning to chambers she has been appointed by the Attorney General to the C Panel of Civil Counsel.

Chloë has particular interest in cases with a European or international element due to her experience at the Court of Justice at the European Union. She has had her academic work on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in the EU cited by the Court of Justice of the European Union:

• C Bell and N Bačić Selanec ‘Who is a “spouse” under the Citizens’ Rights Directive? The prospect of mutual recognition of same-sex marriages in the EU’ (2016) European Law Review 655-686, cited with approval by AG Wathelet in C-673/16 Coman EU:C:2018:2, paragraph 80.

Examples of Chloë’s cases:

• SSWP v Mr RP (2021): Chloë acted as sole counsel for the SSWP. She successfully obtained a final anti-harassment injunction against Mr RP and an order for service by alternative means.
• C-624/19 Tesco Stores EU:C:2019:624 (2021): junior counsel to Keith Bryant QC, Naomi Cunningham and Stephen Butler in a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning whether the principle of equal pay for male and female workers can be relied upon directly in respect of ‘equal work’ and ‘work of equal value’.
• Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd [2018] UKSC 49: assisting Sarah Crowther QC as a pupil and separately as a judicial assistant, concerning the right of a bakery to refuse to bake a cake with the slogan ‘support gay marriage’.
• In the Matter of an Application by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission of Judicial Review (Northern Ireland)[2018] UKSC 27: as a judicial assistant, concerning the law of abortion in Northern Ireland and whether it was incompatible with Articles 3, 8 and/or 14 ECHR
• R (on the application of Black) v Secretary of State for Justice [2017] UKSC 81: as a judicial assistant, concerning the application of the smoking ban in prisons.
• R (on the application of Tag Eldin Ramadan Bashir and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 47: as a judicial assistant, concerning the application of the Refugee Convention to refugees residing in UK Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus.