Ewan McQuater KC

Ewan McQuater KC

Call: 1985 | Silk: 2003

"Once he is in full flow, he is the most amazing advocate to sit and listen to."

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2024)

"Ewan McQuater is a go-to silk for heavyweight cases. He is hugely experienced in complex trial cases; very strategic and strong in court, including cross-examination."

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2024)

"Ewan is a sophisticated, understated advocate. He's totally reliable and never makes a mistake. Everyone has confidence in what he does."

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2024)

"Ewan is a really high-class operator and at the top of the market. He has a very clear strategic view, but is not afraid to get into the details"

- Legal 500 UK Bar (2024)

"Bright, strategic and articulate. A go-to banking, civil fraud and insolvency disputes silk."

- Legal 500 UK Bar (2024)

Practice Overview

  • UK BAR 23 Winner badge_Ewan McQuater KC

Ewan McQuater KC is the Joint Head of Chambers at 3VB. He is an exceptionally well regarded and hugely accomplished silk who brings a wide range of exemplary advocacy and advisory skills to any commercial dispute. McQuater is an established presence in the banking and finance arena, having extensive experience of the banking practices and instruments which underpin many financial disputes, combined with his in depth knowledge of the insolvency and restructuring context, which can be fundamental to determining strategy. Clients name him as the "silk of choice for complex financial and insolvency matters".

Ewan is also hugely experienced in civil fraud cases and in broader areas of commercial and commercial/chancery work. McQuater has developed a formidable reputation in court as "one of the sharpest and best advocates", having fought and won a series of substantial trials in silk and his skills as an exceptional cross-examiner frequently attract comment. Clients observe that he "makes difficult advocacy look easy" and other counsel cite him as "a formidable opponent".

Recognised by Chambers & Partners 2019 as a Star at the Bar, ranked in 7 practice areas with this review:

“True commercial heavyweight" and “leading civil fraud advocate” Ewan McQuater KC impresses with his “excellent instincts in big litigation” and his “hands-on yet strategic perspective on matters.” He is top-rated for his expertise in big-ticket disputes in the commercial and chancery courts, and regularly turns his hand to complex offshore and restructuring matters. Sources praise him as a “tough operator in court” with "enormous gravitas” and also laud his impeccable work ethic and calm demeanour outside of the courtroom. One source says: “He is unflappable; nothing fazes him. He knows the case and does the preparation, so there is no stress or drama.” Others praise his “very commanding presence” and say: “He is very good at delivering clear and concise advice to clients.” This combination of “fierce intellect with first-rate litigation instincts” means Ewan is considered “deservedly one of the go-to names for the most complex and high-value banking disputes,” such as the defence of Barclays Bank against a £1 billion claim brought by PCP Capital Partners with regards to the bank’s £5.8 billion capital raising during the financial crisis.

  • Winner of the Chambers & Partners Banking & Finance Silk of the Year Award 2023
  • Nominated by The Legal 500 Bar Awards for Chancery Silk of the Year 2023
  • Recognised in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list 2020
  • Nominated by the Legal 500 Awards for Commercial Silk of the Year 2020
  • Nominated by the Legal 500 Awards for Insolvency Silk of the Year 2018
  • Nominated by the Chambers Bar Awards for Commercial Silk of the Year 2013
  • Nominated by the Chambers Bar Awards for Chancery Silk of the Year 2012
  • Nominated by the Chambers Bar Awards for Banking and Finance Silk of the Year 2011
  • Nominated by the Chambers Bar Awards for Banking and Finance Silk of the Year 2010
  • Recognised by Chambers & Partners 2014 as a Star at the Bar, ranked in 7 practice areas

In 2012 Ewan was appointed as a board director of the Masters Degree in Corporate Law (MCL) at Cambridge University, the University's innovative post-graduate degree for those wishing to practice as commercial lawyers. The degree seeks to combine practical legal insights with academic and theoretical rigour. He is the only barrister on the board. His role involves giving seminars to graduates and he is involved in creating and shaping the degree course.

Many of Ewan's matters have an international element and he has frequently acted and advised in relation to litigation and arbitration disputes in English law based jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, The Bahamas, the BVI, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Brunei.

PCP Capital Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2017 – current)  –  Ewan is leading the counsel team defending Barclays in this high profile dispute with financier Amanda Staveley (the principal of PCP) relating to Barclays’ £5.8 billion capital raising at the height of the financial crisis. The complaint centres on allegations that Ms Staveley was deceived in relation to £360 million of fees and $3 billion of loans being paid to Qatari investors in the same fundraising. Ms Staveley claims that she would have made profits of £1.5 billion if she had been aware of the true facts. Press interest in the dispute has been extensive and has been heightened by the parallel criminal proceedings which the SFO has been bringing against senior executives of Barclays involved in the capital raising including John Varley the former CEO and Roger Jenkins the former head of Middle East operations. The 10 week Commercial Court trial is due to commence in October 2019. Featured in the Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases for 2019.

Rafed Al Khorafi and otrs v Bank Sarasin Ltd (2016 – 2019) – Ewan led the counsel team defending Bank Sarasin in the DIFC against claims exceeding $1 billion brought by Kuwaiti former clients alleging deceit or misrepresentation said to have induced deposits or investments with the bank in the Gulf. The alleged losses included substantial losses on real estate projects and an intended London share flotation. In January 2019 the DIFC Court of Appeal struck out the entire claim as an abuse of process. The case has generated significant press interest in Dubai and is also of considerable legal interest in exploring the currently topical question of the boundaries of the abuse of process doctrine. Moreover it raised unresolved issues of limitation and bank regulation.

Investec Trust Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd (2016 – 2018) – Ewan led the successful counsel team representing BVI liquidators in the hearing in November 2017 of 9 appeals in the Privy Council from 5 decisions of the Guernsey Court of Appeal. The case concerns £150 million of claims against the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust, a now insolvent trust connected to failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing and to property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz and his highly publicised disputes with the SFO and with Grant Thornton office holders, following the SFO’s controversial raid of Tchenguiz’s UK based businesses. The Privy Council ruled on these appeals in April 2018 paving the way for enforcement proceedings against Tchenguiz’s assets including his prestigious property opposite the Albert Hall. The ruling addresses a number of complex but unresolved issues of wide importance to the trust industry relating to the private international law rules governing trustee liability, the personal liability of trustees to trust creditors in commercial dealings (where local statutes purport to limit that liability) and the true scope and effectiveness of clauses purporting to exclude trustee liability. The ruling also addresses the much debated doctrine of free acceptance in an unjust enrichment claim.

Nopporn Suppiat and otrs v Nop Narongdej and otrs (2018 – current) – This is a substantial banking fraud claim (said to be valued at some US$700m) against the Thai-based Siam Bank and other defendants. Ewan is leading the counsel team defending Siam Bank in proceedings in the Commercial Court in England against allegations that it participated in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate shares in a Thai wind energy company. The claimant says he is a political refugee from Thailand (having been forced to flee in the face of criminal charges of defaming the Thai monarchy) who was induced by fraud to sell his Thai shareholdings and was then wrongfully deprived of the opportunity to repurchase them. There are multiple defendants and parts of the dispute have already seen LCIA arbitration proceedings in Singapore and proceedings seeking injunctive and disclosure relief in Hong Kong, BVI, Belize, New York and Singapore.

Lehman Brothers International v DZ Bank AG and Bank of New York (2015-2017) – Ewan led the counsel team in this dispute concerning multiple claims triggered by Lehman’s collapse and its default on a whole series of high value tri-party repo positions. Ewan’s client (German state-owned DZ Bank) hotly disputed Lehman’s claim through its administrators that it seriously undervalued its counterparty repo positions following Lehman’s insolvency and made its own claims against Lehman and against Bank of New York Mellon the collateral manager, that it gravely mismanaged the collateral allocation process, such that much of DZ’s collateral was in fact ineligible in any event. Legally the case raised novel and untested issues relating to the duties of the collateral manager and complex valuation and causation questions. With about £100m in dispute the case was due for trial between November 2016 – January 2017 but settled shortly before.

Kaupthing hf v Goldman Sachs/Morgan Stanley International (2017) – Ewan acted as expert witness of English banking and insolvency law in proceedings between Kaupthing hf and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley International in the District Court of Reykjavik, Iceland. The Icelandic Court was addressing the question of whether (for the purposes of the European Winding-up Directive in relation credit institutions) English law permitted a means of challenging a series of high value swaps transactions entered into by Kaupthing in the lead up to the financial crisis and the near collapse of the Icelandic banking system. The case (valued around US$100m) involved some highly unusual challenges to the swaps which were self-referencing ie the underlying reference asset was Kaupthing itself.

CF Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2011 – 2014) – Ewan led the team of counsel defending Barclays investment banking arm against allegations of breach of confidence and breach of contract in relation to an M&A deal in the carbon credit sector. The opposition was led by Tim Lord QC. The case featured in The Lawyer’s top cases for 2013 and has been reported in the financial, business and legal press. The press was particularly interested in the allegation that Barclays stole a client’s confidential deal for itself in order to purchase Tricorona, a Swedish carbon trading company. The case reached trial in Summer 2013 and lasted 10 weeks before Hildyard J. Ewan undertook extensive cross-examination of numerous witnesses of fact and experts in the fields of carbon credits and finance and made multiple sets of submissions during the course of the case. The case settled after judgment which established only minimal liability on the part of the bank.

Fortress Value Recovery Fund & Others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund & Others (2010 – 2014) – Ewan led the four-strong counsel team (including David Quest QC) acting for the claimant, a major US hedge fund, in a claim against 22 defendants, represented by three separate teams of eight counsel in total, that its English-based investment structure was reorganized in violation of its rights and prejudicing its debt and equity interests. At its core, the case is a novel and complex fraud. Ewan was successful in maintaining an essential interim freezing order and was successful in a number of further important interlocutory disputes through 2012 and into 2013, most notably the important and novel interlocutory decision of Blair J at [2012] EWHC 1486 (against Tim Lord QC), upheld by the Court of Appeal (against Mark Hapgood QC) at [2013] EWCA Civ 367, on the circumstances in which a third party may (or may not) take advantage of an arbitration agreement under the Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Act 1999 – a decision which has been a welcome clarification to the law in relation to the interplay between the 1999 Act and the Arbitration Act 1996. Ewan was also successful (against multiple defendant counsel teams) in resisting a series of interlocutory applications on jurisdiction and merits before Flaux J in January 2013 ([2013] EWHC 14 (Comm)) and successfully argued for a far reaching application of the doctrine of collateral waiver in obtaining an extensive order for the disclosure of privileged material before Cooke J in February 2014 (against Mark Hapgood QC)[2014] EWHC 1052. Ewan also successfully resisted applications by multiple defendants to use funds from the investment structure to meet legal costs on the basis that this would conflict with the purpose of the freezing order [2014] EWHC 551 (Comm), Andrew Smith J (against Mark Hapgood QC). The case settled shortly before trial (due to last 10 weeks in Summer 2014).

Glitnir HF v Toronto Dominion Bank (2012 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team acting for Glitnir, an Icelandic bank which failed in the financial crisis and is currently subject to Icelandic winding-up proceedings, in dispute against Toronto Dominion Bank over the interpretation and application of close-out provisions in the ISDA Master Agreement and over the close-out valuation of swap positions. Issues included how the market turmoil in late 2008 affected valuations, how to value a currency in crisis, how the principles of “clean” and “dirty” valuations are to be applied and how the non-defaulting party’s obligation to act in good faith is to be interpreted. Given that thousands of ISDA swap transactions were terminated during the global financial crisis, the case was topical and raised crucial issues of intense interest to financial institutions in the swaps market. The case settled before trial due in 2014. The case also follows a trend of cases on the interpretation of ISDA Master Agreement provisions, an area in which Ewan has previously secured a decision favourable to his client (BNP Paribas v Wockhardt EU Operations (Swiss) AG [2009] EWHC 3116 (Comm)).

Trebuchet Finance Ltd v Merrill Lynch International Bank Ltd (2011 – 2013) – Ewan led the counsel team acting for major investment bank Merrill Lynch/Bank of America in a landmark claim brought by a dissatisfied professional investor relating to a 2006 securitisation of sub-prime UK residential mortgages. The case raised important issues relating to the regulation and underwriting of sub-prime mortgages, the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on investments in sub-prime-related securities and the valuation of continuing investments in sub-prime securities. There has been a spate of litigation over such issues in the US but this was one of the first cases of its kind to emerge in England and would have had an effect on a wide range of security investments. The case settled in 2013.

Advising Lloyds Banking Group in relation to claims of swaps and derivatives mis-selling made by high profile client of the group (2014).

Salford Capital Partners Inc v Krys and Greenwood (2014) – advising and acting for the liquidating trustees of the BVI based Value Discovery Fund, holding assets alleged to derive from Boris Berezovsky; issues relate to partners’ respective rights and interests in the fund and challenges to the procedure and substance of valuations and distributions of fund assets.

Citicorp International Limited v Shiv-Vani Oil and Gas (2014) – Ewan acted on behalf of the trustee of a multi-million dollar bond issue by Indian industrial Shiv-Vani to enforce judgment in the face of applications to stay on jurisdiction and case management grounds jurisdiction. Summary judgment awarded despite defences alleging illegality under Indian law and lack of approval from the Reserve Bank of India and anti-suit injunction restraining Indian winding up proceedings refused [2014] EWHC 245 (Comm).

Terra Firma v Citibank (2010 – 2014) – Ewan acted for Citibank as expert witness of English banking and financial law in its defence of Terra Firma’s (Guy Hands’) US$7 billion damages claim for alleged fraud and negligence in the acquisition of the EMI music group in 2007. The claim was dismissed at trial in the District Court but a retrial was ordered by the US Court of Appeals.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company v Al Sanea and others FSD 54 (2009 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team for the Algosaibi family of Saudi Arabia (AHAB) in a US$10 billion fraud claim against multiple parties including Maan Al Sanea (rated by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s richest individuals), the Saad group of companies formerly under his control in the Cayman Islands and multiple banks alleging that credit was obtained using the Algosaibi name. Multiple hearings at first instance and on appeal in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, including a successful judgment in excess of US$2billion against Maan Al Sanea and successfully resisting attempts by multiple parties to strike out claims in the Cayman action.

NML Capital Ltd v The Republic of Argentina (2011 – 2016) – acted and advised creditors of the Republic of Argentina in relation to its attempts to avoid payments under multiple syndicated loan facilities and under US and English judgments. Unprecedented order enforcing creditors’ interpretation of the widely used pari passu clause in sovereign bond agreements by way of injunction – upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and subsequently upheld in 2014 by the US Supreme Court.

Elliott VIN BV v Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (2011 – 2012) – acted for major US hedge fund enforcing sovereign debt claim against Vietnamese state entity, raised important issues of interpretation of LMA (Loan Market Association) standard documentation as to the effectiveness of assignments of loan participations, direct rights of action and recovery sharing.

Strategic Value Master Fund v Ideal Standard International [2011] EWHC 171 – key decision on the interpretation of standard syndicated loan facility documentation in relation to events of default, equity cures, notices of acceleration and waiver provisions.

KfW Bank v Euroclear Bank (2010 – 2011) – defended Euroclear bank against allegations that it negligently failed to accept collateral posted by Lehman shortly before its collapse. Raised the novel issue of whether a bank providing collateral management services can be liable for Lehman-related losses where there was a delay in accepting collateral.

Excalibur Funding Plc v Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Limited (2010 – 2011) – acted for the issuer of financial instruments against Lehman (in administration) over one of Lehman’s largest outstanding positions (€722m), seeking to set a precedent that Lehman transfer its noteholding following its insolvency.

BNP Paribas v Wockhardt EU Operations [2009] EWHC 3116 (Comm) – successfully represented BNP Paribas in an important decision on the meaning and effect of standard ISDA swaps terms, to the effect that termination and close out provisions are not void as constituting a penalty, on the application of the close out provisions under the 2002 ISDA and on early court disposal of swaps mis-selling allegations.

Kevin So v HSBC Bank Plc and Lucy Lu [2009] EWCA Civ 296 – successfully defended HSBC on appeal on 5th Avenue Partners bank fraud. The nine week trial is reported at [2007] EWHC 2819 (Comm) – a fraud by the Liberal Democrat’s biggest donor Michael Brown induced investors to pay monies into accounts opened at HSBC, Walker J found after nine week trial that the bank was not liable in claims in contract, dishonest assistance or negligence. LCIA arbitration, four week trial in May-June 2009, appeared for offshore hedge funds in an arbitration claim against administrators for alleged mispricing of securities and derivatives and misstatement of the NAV (net asset value).

Alphasteel Ltd v Shirkhani and otrs [2009] EWHC 2153 – successfully defended freezing and disclosure orders against allegations of non-disclosure and misrepresentation in banking fraud claim.

Lyons v HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd (2009 – 2010) – defended HSBC against allegations of mis-selling investments in AIG in the lead up to the financial crisis.

Halabi v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (2009) – acted for Kaupthing (in administration) enforcing claims in relation to property development and investment lending.

Bank of England (2009) – advising the institution in relation to remedies available on collapse of Icelandic banks.

Lehman Brothers collapse (2008 – 2009) – advising and acting for prime brokerage clients of Lehman Brothers on implications of its administration.

HSBC Bank Plc v 5th Avenue Partners Ltd [2007] EWHC 2819 (Comm) – defending HSBC through an eight-week trial relating to alleged banking fraud concerning the Liberal Democrats’ biggest ever donor, Michael Brown.

Uzinterimpex JSC v Standard Bank Plc [2007] 2 Lloyds Rep 187; [2007] EWHC 1151 (Comm) – successfully defending Standard Bank at trial against claims that an advance payment guarantee had been fraudulently called, and against claims of double payment.

Haller v Deutsche Bank (2005 – 2007) – defended Deutsche Bank against claim alleging entitlement to purchase distressed asset trading portfolio, settled 2007.

Kensington International Ltd v Republic of Congo/Ikechukwu Nwobodo [2006] All ER (D) 274; [2006] EWHC 1848 (Comm) – acting for judgment creditor of a State in successfully obtaining an order for cross-examination where the respondent’s activities were found to be mixed up in judgment evasion by the State.

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo/Vitol Services Limited [2006] EWHC 1712 (Comm) – acted for judgment creditor of the Congo in successfully establishing that foreign execution proceedings are sufficient to grant interim relief under s25 CJJA 1982).

FG Hemisphere v Republic of Congo/Kensington International [2005] EWHC 3103 (Comm), Times 26 February 2006 – acted for judgment creditor of State in enforcing priority obtained through third party debt order and on court’s discretion to reopen judgment once delivered; successfully defended judgment creditor’s priority.

Kensington International Limited v Glencore Energy/the Republic of the Congo [2005] EWHC 2684 (Comm) – successfully piercing the corporate veil of a series of offshore companies on the basis of fraud to enforce judgments in England and, subsequently, Bermuda. Themilodomi v Kleinwort Benson (2005) – successfully defended Kleinwort Benson against a claim relating to monies allegedly paid without authority.

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2004] All ER (D) 76; [2004] EWHC 1015 (Ch) – successfully represented Morgan Grenfell at trial in a case which held that proper construction of letter of indemnity as applied to the Deutsche Bank group.

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo [2003] EWCA Civ 709 – successfully acting for State creditor in one of the rare English cases to consider the meaning of the widely used pari passu clause in international loan agreements).

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2003] EWHC 333 – successfully acting for Morgan Grenfell in a case which decided whether a director Tom Walkinshaw was personally liable on his indemnity on the collapse of the Arrows Formula One team.

National Bank of Egypt International Ltd v Oman Housing Bank [2003] 1 All ER (Comm) 246  – acting for National Bank of Egypt in a case which decided whether bank liable to make restitution of unauthorised payments.

ISTIL Group Inc v Zahoor [2003] EWHC 165 – alleged fraud on international trading group.

Phones 4u Limited v Vodafone Group (2016 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team of both commercial and competition law juniors in Vodafone’s defence of this claim by the administrators of the now insolvent Phones 4u, claiming that Vodafone in combination with other mobile network operators caused the highly publicised collapse into insolvency of Phones 4u (with its 720 outlets and 5,000 jobs) in late 2014. Essentially Phones 4u through its administrators alleges that Vodafone colluded with other mobile network operators to coordinate their withdrawal from Phones 4u and put it out of business and thereby cut out the costs of having an intermediary between them and their market. The headline value of the claim is the entire business value of Phones 4u as an enterprise and is alleged to run to some £1.2 billion. The case has generated considerable publicity.

Investec Trust Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd (2016 – 2018) – Ewan led the successful counsel team representing BVI liquidators in the hearing in November 2017 of 9 appeals in the Privy Council from 5 decisions of the Guernsey Court of Appeal. The case concerns £150 million of claims against the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust, a now insolvent trust connected to failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing and to property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz and his highly publicised disputes with the SFO and with Grant Thornton office holders, following the SFO’s controversial raid of Tchenguiz’s UK based businesses. The Privy Council ruled on these appeals in April 2018 paving the way for enforcement proceedings against Tchenguiz’s assets including his prestigious property opposite the Albert Hall. The ruling addresses a number of complex but unresolved issues of wide importance to the trust industry relating to the private international law rules governing trustee liability, the personal liability of trustees to trust creditors in commercial dealings (where local statutes purport to limit that liability) and the true scope and effectiveness of clauses purporting to exclude trustee liability. The ruling also addresses the much debated doctrine of free acceptance in an unjust enrichment claim.

Nopporn Suppiat and otrs v Nop Narongdej and otrs (2018 – current) – This is a substantial fraud claim (said to be valued at some US$700m) against the Thai-based Siam Bank and other defendants. Ewan is leading the counsel team defending Siam Bank in proceedings in the Commercial Court in England against allegations that it participated in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate shares in a Thai wind energy company. The claimant says he is a political refugee from Thailand (having been forced to flee in the face of criminal charges of defaming the Thai monarchy) who was induced by fraud to sell his Thai shareholdings and was then wrongfully deprived of the opportunity to repurchase them. There are multiple defendants and parts of the dispute have already seen LCIA arbitration proceedings in Singapore and proceedings seeking injunctive and disclosure relief in Hong Kong, BVI, Belize, New York and Singapore.

PJSC Tatneft v Gennady Bogolyubov and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-Israeli oligarch Gennady Bogolyubov defending allegations that he participated in a complex dishonest scheme to misappropriate very substantial sums (said to be in the order of US$300m) in relation to oil deliveries from Russia to Ukraine by the use of intermediate companies and allegedly sham share sale agreements. There have been various interlocutory disputes heard in early 2019 relating to the scope and extent of freezing order and disclosure relief and security for costs. The claim is due to reach a 10-12 week trial commencing in October 2020.

Recovery Partners GP Ltd v Irakli Rukhadze and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan led the successful counsel team in a comprehensive win on issues of liability in this hotly contested dispute over the proceeds earned in recovering the assets forming the estate of deceased Georgian billionaire Arkady (Badri) Patarkatsishvili after his unexpected death. In her judgment on liability handed down on 1 November 2018, following a 4 week trial in June and July 2018, Mrs Justice Cockerill found that the defendants had resigned in bad faith in order unlawfully to divert this lucrative business opportunity to themselves and had subsequently given dishonest evidence to the court about it. The case now proceeds to the quantum phase (with suggestions that hundreds of millions of dollars were unlawfully earned) and in the meantime permission to appeal has been refused.

CF Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2011 – 2014) – Ewan led the team of counsel defending Barclays investment banking arm against allegations of breach of confidence and breach of contract in relation to an M&A deal in the carbon credit sector. The opposition was led by Tim Lord QC. The case featured in The Lawyer’s top cases for 2013 and has been reported in the financial, business and legal press. The press was particularly interested in the allegation that Barclays stole a client’s confidential deal for itself in order to purchase Tricorona, a Swedish carbon trading company. The case reached trial in Summer 2013 and lasted 10 weeks before Hildyard J. Ewan undertook extensive cross-examination of numerous witnesses of fact and experts in the fields of carbon credits and finance and made multiple sets of submissions during the course of the case. The case settled after judgment which established only minimal liability on the part of the bank.

David John Standish and Richard Heis (as joint liquidators of Quarry Hill Investments Limited) v Robert Basil Hersov (2013 – 2015) – Ewan led the claimant team in this heavyweight insolvency claim brought against the international businessman Robert Hersov by the joint liquidators of a company of which he used to be a director. The liquidators (partners in KPMG) alleged that Mr Hersov breached his duties to the company, or engaged in wrongful trading, by causing the company to issue letter agreements to two European banks. The letter agreements related to more than EUR 250 million of liabilities incurred in share trading by the controversial German businessman Lars Windhorst. The liquidators alleged that Mr Hersov’s conduct caused the company to suffer losses into the hundreds of millions of pounds and claimed a contribution from him on that basis.

Asegaai Consultants Ltd v Mistry EWHC [2012] 1899 (Ch) – landmark decision against fraudulent insolvency practitioners. Successfully acted for successor liquidators in obtaining 12-year disqualification order after trial against corrupt insolvency practitioner. Unprecedented application by successor liquidators.

Strategic Value Master Fund v Ideal Standard International [2011] EWHC 171 – key decision on the interpretation of standard syndicated loan facility documentation in relation to events of default, equity cures, notices of acceleration and waiver provisions.

Excalibur Funding Plc v Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Limited (2010 – 2011) – acted for the issuer of financial instruments against Lehman (in administration) over one of Lehman’s largest outstanding positions (€722m), seeking to set a precedent that Lehman transfer its noteholding following its insolvency.

Bloomsbury International Ltd v Holyoake and otrs [2010] EWHC 1150 (Ch) – acted for administrators of British Seafoods in an alleged £210m banking fraud (referenced in the press as the “Madoff of the fishing industry”). Obtained and retained freezing orders, search orders and passport seizure orders. Clarified the law on the requirements of administrators to support cross undertakings and provided important guidance on conflicts of interests relating to accountants accepting insolvency appointments which may involve them suing former clients.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company v Al Sanea and others FSD 54 (2009 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team for the Algosaibi family of Saudi Arabia (AHAB) in a US$10 billion fraud claim against multiple parties including Maan Al Sanea (rated by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s richest individuals), the Saad group of companies formerly under his control in the Cayman Islands and multiple banks alleging that credit was obtained using the Algosaibi name. Multiple hearings at first instance and on appeal in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, including a successful judgment in excess of US$2billion against Maan Al Sanea and successfully resisting attempts by multiple parties to strike out claims in the Cayman action.

Kevin So v HSBC Bank Plc and Lucy Lu [2009] EWCA Civ 296 – successfully defended HSBC on appeal on 5th Avenue Partners bank fraud. The nine week trial is reported at [2007] EWHC 2819 (Comm) – a fraud by the Liberal Democrat’s biggest donor Michael Brown induced investors to pay monies into accounts opened at HSBC, Walker J found after nine week trial that the bank was not liable in claims in contract, dishonest assistance or negligence.

Alphasteel Ltd v Shirkhani and otrs [2009] EWHC 2153 (trial due 2011) – successfully defended freezing and disclosure orders against allegations of non-disclosure and misrepresentation in banking fraud claim.

Halabi v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (2009) – acted for Kaupthing (in administration) enforcing claims in relation to property development and investment lending.

Gallaher International Limited v Tlais Enterprises Limited (2006) – wide ranging litigation relating to alleged tobacco smuggling into the EU.

Guy Hands v Morrison Construction Services Ltd (16 June 2006 Lawtel No. AC9100910), Ch Div – successfully obtained wide ranging pre-action disclosure order in favour of Guy Hands in relation to lost investment in Rockingham speedway.

Langbar International Limited (2005 – 2006) – advised in relation to missing assets and potential claims and asset recovery by AIM listed vehicle.

Arquebus Ltd v Caledonian Trust Co (2004 – 2006) – defended Isle of Man trust company against allegations of involvement in failed offshore investment fund.

Queen’s Moat Houses v Capita IRG Trustees Ltd [2004] EWHC 868 (Ch) – successfully argued that QMH entitled to withdraw hotel property from debenture security.

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2004] All ER (D) 76; [2004] EWHC 1015 (Ch) – successfully represented Morgan Grenfell at trial in a case which held that proper construction of letter of indemnity as applied to the Deutsche Bank group.

Racy v Hawila [2004] EWCA Civ 209; [2003] All ER (D) 208 – concurrent proceedings in respect of similar subject matter successfully stayed on case management grounds; case management decision upheld by Court of Appeal.

ISTIL Group v Zahoor [2004] All ER (D) 192 – whether court’s jurisdiction in relation to non-party costs order restricted by previous consent order.

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2003] EWHC 333 – successfully acting for Morgan Grenfell in a case which decided whether a director Tom Walkinshaw was personally liable on his indemnity on the collapse of the Arrows Formula One team.

ISTIL Group Inc v Zahoor [2003] EWHC 165 – alleged fraud on international trading group.

PCP Capital Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2017 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for trial defending Barclays in this high profile dispute with financier Amanda Staveley (the principal of PCP) relating to Barclays’ £5.8 billion capital raising at the height of the financial crisis. The complaint centres on allegations that Ms Staveley was deceived in relation to £360 million of fees and $3 billion of loans being paid to Qatari investors in the same fundraising. Ms Staveley claims that she would have made profits of £1.5 billion if she had been aware of the true facts. Press interest in the dispute has been extensive and has been heightened by the parallel criminal proceedings which the SFO has been bringing against senior executives of Barclays involved in the capital raising including John Varley the former CEO and Roger Jenkins the former head of Middle East operations. The 10 week Commercial Court trial is due to commence in October 2019. Featured in the Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases for 2019.

PJSC Tatneft v Gennady Bogolyubov and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-Israeli oligarch Gennady Bogolyubov defending allegations that he participated in a complex dishonest scheme to misappropriate very substantial sums (said to be in the order of US$300m) in relation to oil deliveries from Russia to Ukraine by the use of intermediate companies and allegedly sham share sale agreements. There have been various interlocutory disputes heard in early 2019 relating to the scope and extent of freezing order and disclosure relief and security for costs. The claim is due to reach a 10-12 week trial commencing in October 2020.

Nopporn Suppiat and otrs v Nop Narongdej and otrs (2018 – current) – This is a substantial fraud claim (said to be valued at some US$700m) against the Thai-based Siam Bank and other defendants. Ewan is leading the counsel team defending Siam Bank in proceedings in the Commercial Court in England against allegations that it participated in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate shares in a Thai wind energy company. The claimant says he is a political refugee from Thailand (having been forced to flee in the face of criminal charges of defaming the Thai monarchy) who was induced by fraud to sell his Thai shareholdings and was then wrongfully deprived of the opportunity to repurchase them. There are multiple defendants and parts of the dispute have already seen LCIA arbitration proceedings in Singapore and proceedings seeking injunctive and disclosure relief in Hong Kong, BVI, Belize, New York and Singapore.

Recovery Partners GP Ltd v Irakli Rukhadze and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan led the successful counsel team in a comprehensive win on issues of liability in this hotly contested dispute over the proceeds earned in recovering the assets forming the estate of deceased Georgian billionaire Arkady (Badri) Patarkatsishvili after his unexpected death. In her judgment on liability handed down on 1 November 2018, following a 4 week trial in June and July 2018, Mrs Justice Cockerill found that the defendants had resigned in bad faith in order unlawfully to divert this lucrative business opportunity to themselves and had subsequently given dishonest evidence to the court about it. The case now proceeds to the quantum phase (with suggestions that hundreds of millions of dollars were unlawfully earned) and in the meantime permission to appeal has been refused.

Raga Establishment Limited v SCM Financial Overseas Limited (2016 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-based SCM Financial (said to be controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, reputedly Ukraine’s richest oligarch) and related parties which purchased Ukraine’s largest telcoms operator Ukrtelcom in 2013 for around $1 billion. The case involves allegations that SCM’s vendor Raga previously colluded in a corrupt and rigged privatisation process in acquiring this asset from the Ukrainian state on its privatisation in 2011, with the result that it is now likely that the shares will be confiscated by the state of Ukraine in proceedings there. Multiple violations of Ukrainian civil and criminal law have been alleged together with misuse of the Ukrainian banking system by illegally funding the privatisation using bonds issued by Ukrainian sovereign banks.There have been a number of substantial LCIA arbitration hearings in London in 2017 and 2019 with an application to the Commercial Court seeking to remit one or more arbitral awards heard in May 2018. Parallel proceedings continue in Cyprus (now alleging that SCM is insolvent and has wrongfully dissipated assets to avoid Raga’s claims). The case value is around US$1 billion.

Holyoake v Nick and Christian Candy and the CPC Group (2015 – 2016) – Ewan led a counsel team defending the well-known Candy brothers (high-end property developers) in a wide-ranging claim brought by former business associate Mark Holyoake. The claim at its core alleged that the Candys used a series of deeply unpleasant threats, duress and intimidation to pressure Mr Holyoake into agreeing exorbitant terms for providing and extending a loan facility on a proposed prestige London property development and that they caused the development to fail, resulting in losses claimed as some £150 million odd. The case caught the attention of the press due to the colourful nature of the alleged threats said to have been made and the Candys’ public profile (Nick Candy being married to Holly Vallance). It was legally interesting in several respects including raising unresolved issues relating to the application of the “unfair relationship” jurisdiction under CCA section 140. Ewan represented the Candy interests at multiple interlocutory hearings during 2016 on notification and freezing orders, fortification of cross-undertakings, security for costs, and the adequacy of “after the event” insurance as security.

Chodiev v Stein (2015 – 2016) – Ewan led the counsel team for the Russian oligarchs behind the ENRC mining group in the latest chapters of this dispute with their former financial adviser. Most recently Ewan successfuly resisted attempts to restrict the use of documents previously disclosed in England. The decision of Leggatt J at [2016] EWHC 1210 clarified the extent of the jurisdiction to restrict document use under CPR 31.22 and the paramount importance of the open justice principle which (if documents have been deployed in open court) ought to prevail even where the party relying on such principle may have behaved unmeritoriously. The substantive case raised highly topical issues (following the Supreme Court decision in Sharland v Sharland [2015] UKSC 60) as to the burden and standard of proof of fraud required to set aside a previous judgment, the extent to which the dishonesty must infect the prior ruling and the unresolved issue of whether a victim of fraud must show reasonable diligence in uncovering the prior deception: see [2015] EWCA Civ 1256.

Fortress Value Recovery Fund & Others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund & Others (2010 – 2014) – Ewan led the four-strong counsel team (including David Quest QC) acting for the claimant, a major US hedge fund, in a claim against 22 defendants, represented by three separate teams of eight counsel in total, that its English-based investment structure was reorganized in violation of its rights and prejudicing its debt and equity interests. At its core, the case is a novel and complex fraud. Ewan was successful in maintaining an essential interim freezing order and was successful in a number of further important interlocutory disputes through 2012 and into 2013, most notably the important and novel interlocutory decision of Blair J at [2012] EWHC 1486 (against Tim Lord QC), upheld by the Court of Appeal (against Mark Hapgood QC) at [2013] EWCA Civ 367, on the circumstances in which a third party may (or may not) take advantage of an arbitration agreement under the Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Act 1999 – a decision which has been a welcome clarification to the law in relation to the interplay between the 1999 Act and the Arbitration Act 1996. Ewan was also successful (against multiple defendant counsel teams) in resisting a series of interlocutory applications on jurisdiction and merits before Flaux J in January 2013 ([2013] EWHC 14 (Comm)) and successfully argued for a far reaching application of the doctrine of collateral waiver in obtaining an extensive order for the disclosure of privileged material before Cooke J in February 2014 (against Mark Hapgood QC)[2014] EWHC 1052. Ewan also successfully resisted applications by multiple defendants to use funds from the investment structure to meet legal costs on the basis that this would conflict with the purpose of the freezing order [2014] EWHC 551 (Comm), Andrew Smith J (against Mark Hapgood QC). The case settled shortly before trial (due to last 10 weeks in Summer 2014).

Terra Firma v Citibank (2010 – 2014) – Ewan acted for Citibank as expert witness of English banking and financial law in its defence of Terra Firma’s (Guy Hands’) US$7 billion damages claim for alleged fraud and negligence in the acquisition of the EMI music group in 2007. The claim was dismissed at trial in the District Court but a retrial was ordered by the US Court of Appeals.

Asegaai Consultants Ltd v Mistry [2012] EWHC 1899 (Ch) – landmark decision against fraudulent insolvency practitioners. Successfully acted for successor liquidators in obtaining 12-year disqualification order after trial against corrupt insolvency practitioner. Unprecedented application by successor liquidators.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company v Al Sanea and others FSD 54 (2009 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team for the Algosaibi family of Saudi Arabia (AHAB) in a US$10 billion fraud claim against multiple parties including Maan Al Sanea (rated by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s richest individuals), the Saad group of companies formerly under his control in the Cayman Islands and multiple banks alleging that credit was obtained using the Algosaibi name. Multiple hearings at first instance and on appeal in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, including a successful judgment in excess of US$2billion against Maan Al Sanea and successfully resisting attempts by multiple parties to strike out claims in the Cayman action.

NML Capital Ltd v The Republic of Argentina (2011 – 2016) – acted and advised creditors of the Republic of Argentina in relation to its attempts to avoid payments under multiple syndicated loan facilities and under US and English judgments. Unprecedented order enforcing creditors’ interpretation of the widely used pari passu clause in sovereign bond agreements by way of injunction – upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and subsequently upheld in 2014 by the US Supreme Court. Bloomsbury International Ltd v Holyoake and otrs [2010] EWHC 1150 (Ch) acted for administrators of British Seafoods in an alleged £210m banking fraud (referenced in the press as the “Madoff of the fishing industry”). Obtained and retained freezing orders, search orders and passport seizure orders. Clarified the law on the requirements of administrators to support cross undertakings and provided important guidance on conflicts of interests relating to accountants accepting insolvency appointments which may involve them suing former clients.

HJ Heinz Co Ltd v EFL Inc [2010] EWHC 1203 (Comm) – acted for Heinz food company in Commercial Court proceedings in successfully resisting enforcement of Hungarian Arbitration award on grounds of public policy. Fresh evidence of fraud available and issue not previously determined in Hungary.

Kevin So v HSBC Bank Plc and Lucy Lu [2009] EWCA Civ 296 – successfully defended HSBC on appeal on 5th Avenue Partners bank fraud. The nine week trial is reported at [2007] EWHC 2819 (Comm) – a fraud by the Liberal Democrat’s biggest donor Michael Brown induced investors to pay monies into accounts opened at HSBC, Walker J found after nine week trial that the bank was not liable in claims in contract, dishonest assistance or negligence.

Alphasteel Ltd v Shirkhani and otrs [2009] EWHC 2153 – successfully defended freezing and disclosure orders against allegations of non-disclosure and misrepresentation in banking fraud claim.

ICC Arbitration, trial in February 2009, appeared for Icelandic investors in Bulgarian banks in dispute over secret commissions and disbursement of sale proceeds.

Appeared for hedge funds in an arbitration claim against administrators for alleged mispricing of securities and misstatement of the NAV (net asset value).

Uzinterimpex JSC v Standard Bank Plc [2007] 2 Lloyds Rep 187; [2007] EWHC 1151 (Comm) – successfully defending Standard Bank at trial against claims that an advance payment guarantee had been fraudulently called, and against claims of double payment.

Kensington International Ltd v Republic of Congo/Ikechukwu Nwobodo [2006] All ER (D) 274; [2006] EWHC 1848 (Comm) – novel order for cross-examination successfully obtained where respondent mixed up in judgment evasion).

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo/Vitol Services Limited [2006] EWHC 1712 (Comm) – acted for judgment creditor of the Congo in successfully establishing that foreign execution proceedings are sufficient to grant interim relief under s25 CJJA 1982).

Langbar International Limited (2005 – 2006) – advised in relation to missing assets and potential claims and asset recovery by AIM listed vehicle.

FG Hemisphere v Republic of Congo/Kensington International [2005] EWHC 3103 (Comm), Times 26 February 2006 – acted for judgment creditor of State in enforcing priority obtained through third party debt order and on court’s discretion to reopen judgment once delivered; successfully defended judgment creditor’s priority.

Kensington International Limited v Glencore Energy/the Republic of the Congo [2005] EWHC 2684 (Comm) – successfully piercing the corporate veil of a series of offshore companies on the basis of fraud to enforce judgments in England and, subsequently, Bermuda.

Arquebus Ltd v Caledonian Trust Co (2004 – 2006) – defended Isle of Man trust company against allegations of involvement in failed offshore investment fund.

Societa Finanzaria Insustrie SpA v Lefebvre [2004] All ER (D) 97 – worldwide freezing order in support of Italian proceedings successfully discharged on grounds of inexpediency under s25 of the CJJA 1982.

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo [2003] EWCA Civ 709 – successfully acting for State creditor in one of the rare English cases to consider the meaning of the widely used pari passu clause in international loan agreements).

PCP Capital Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2017 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for trial defending Barclays in this high profile dispute with financier Amanda Staveley (the principal of PCP) relating to Barclays’ £5.8 billion capital raising at the height of the financial crisis. The complaint centres on allegations that Ms Staveley was deceived in relation to £360 million of fees and $3 billion of loans being paid to Qatari investors in the same fundraising. Ms Staveley claims that she would have made profits of £1.5 billion if she had been aware of the true facts. Press interest in the dispute has been extensive and has been heightened by the parallel criminal proceedings which the SFO has been bringing against senior executives of Barclays involved in the capital raising including John Varley the former CEO and Roger Jenkins the former head of Middle East operations. The 10 week Commercial Court trial is due to commence in October 2019. Featured in the Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases for 2019.

PJSC Tatneft v Gennady Bogolyubov and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-Israeli oligarch Gennady Bogolyubov defending allegations that he participated in a complex dishonest scheme to misappropriate very substantial sums (said to be in the order of US$300m) in relation to oil deliveries from Russia to Ukraine by the use of intermediate companies and allegedly sham share sale agreements. There have been various interlocutory disputes heard in early 2019 relating to the scope and extent of freezing order and disclosure relief and security for costs. The claim is due to reach a 10-12 week trial commencing in October 2020.

Rafed Al Khorafi and otrs v Bank Sarasin Ltd (2016 – 2019) – Ewan led the counsel team defending Bank Sarasin in the DIFC against claims exceeding $1 billion brought by Kuwaiti former clients alleging deceit or misrepresentation said to have induced deposits or investments with the bank in the Gulf. The alleged losses included substantial losses on real estate projects and an intended London share flotation. In January 2019 the DIFC Court of Appeal struck out the entire claim as an abuse of process. The case has generated significant press interest in Dubai and is also of considerable legal interest in exploring the currently topical question of the boundaries of the abuse of process doctrine. Moreover it raised unresolved issues of limitation and bank regulation.

Recovery Partners GP Ltd v Irakli Rukhadze and otrs (2018 – current) – Ewan led the successful counsel team in a comprehensive win on issues of liability in this hotly contested dispute over the proceeds earned in recovering the assets forming the estate of deceased Georgian billionaire Arkady (Badri) Patarkatsishvili after his unexpected death. In her judgment on liability handed down on 1 November 2018, following a 4 week trial in June and July 2018, Mrs Justice Cockerill found that the defendants had resigned in bad faith in order unlawfully to divert this lucrative business opportunity to themselves and had subsequently given dishonest evidence to the court about it. The case now proceeds to the quantum phase (with suggestions that hundreds of millions of dollars were unlawfully earned) and in the meantime permission to appeal has been refused.

Raga Establishment Limited v SCM Financial Overseas Limited (2016 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-based SCM Financial (said to be controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, reputedly Ukraine’s richest oligarch) and related parties which purchased Ukraine’s largest telcoms operator Ukrtelcom in 2013 for around $1 billion. The case involves allegations that SCM’s vendor Raga previously colluded in a corrupt and rigged privatisation process in acquiring this asset from the Ukrainian state on its privatisation in 2011, with the result that it is now likely that the shares will be confiscated by the state of Ukraine in proceedings there. Multiple violations of Ukrainian civil and criminal law have been alleged together with misuse of the Ukrainian banking system by illegally funding the privatisation using bonds issued by Ukrainian sovereign banks. There have been a number of substantial LCIA arbitration hearings in London in 2017 and 2019 with an application to the Commercial Court seeking to remit one or more arbitral awards heard in May 2018. Parallel proceedings continue in Cyprus (now alleging that SCM is insolvent and has wrongfully dissipated assets to avoid Raga’s claims). The case value is around US$1 billion.

Lehman Brothers International v DZ Bank AG and Bank of New York (2015 – 2017) – Ewan led the counsel team in this dispute concerning multiple claims triggered by Lehman’s collapse and its default on a whole series of high value tri-party repo positions. Ewan’s client (German state-owned DZ Bank) hotly disputed Lehman’s claim through its administrators that it seriously undervalued its counterparty repo positions following Lehman’s insolvency and made its own claims against Lehman and against Bank of New York Mellon the collateral manager, that it gravely mismanaged the collateral allocation process, such that much of DZ’s collateral was in fact ineligible in any event. Legally the case raised novel and untested issues relating to the duties of the collateral manager and complex valuation and causation questions. With about £100m in dispute the case was due for trial between November 2016 – January 2017 but settled shortly before.

CF Partners v Barclays Bank Plc (2011 – 2014) – Ewan led the team of counsel defending Barclays investment banking arm against allegations of breach of confidence and breach of contract in relation to an M&A deal in the carbon credit sector. The opposition was led by Tim Lord QC. The case featured in The Lawyer’s top cases for 2013 and has been reported in the financial, business and legal press. The press was particularly interested in the allegation that Barclays stole a client’s confidential deal for itself in order to purchase Tricorona, a Swedish carbon trading company. The case reached trial in Summer 2013 and lasted 10 weeks before Hildyard J. Ewan undertook extensive cross-examination of numerous witnesses of fact and experts in the fields of carbon credits and finance and made multiple sets of submissions during the course of the case. The case settled after judgment which established only minimal liability on the part of the bank.

Fortress Value Recovery Fund & Others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund & Others (2010 – 2014) – Ewan led the four-strong counsel team (including David Quest QC) acting for the claimant, a major US hedge fund, in a claim against 22 defendants, represented by three separate teams of eight counsel in total, that its English-based investment structure was reorganized in violation of its rights and prejudicing its debt and equity interests. At its core, the case is a novel and complex fraud. Ewan was successful in maintaining an essential interim freezing order and was successful in a number of further important interlocutory disputes through 2012 and into 2013, most notably the important and novel interlocutory decision of Blair J at [2012] EWHC 1486 (against Tim Lord QC), upheld by the Court of Appeal (against Mark Hapgood QC) at [2013] EWCA Civ 367, on the circumstances in which a third party may (or may not) take advantage of an arbitration agreement under the Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Act 1999 – a decision which has been a welcome clarification to the law in relation to the interplay between the 1999 Act and the Arbitration Act 1996. Ewan was also successful (against multiple defendant counsel teams) in resisting a series of interlocutory applications on jurisdiction and merits before Flaux J in January 2013 ([2013] EWHC 14 (Comm)) and successfully argued for a far reaching application of the doctrine of collateral waiver in obtaining an extensive order for the disclosure of privileged material before Cooke J in February 2014 (against Mark Hapgood QC)[2014] EWHC 1052. Ewan also successfully resisted applications by multiple defendants to use funds from the investment structure to meet legal costs on the basis that this would conflict with the purpose of the freezing order [2014] EWHC 551 (Comm), Andrew Smith J (against Mark Hapgood QC). The case settled shortly before trial (due to last 10 weeks in Summer 2014).

Glitnir HF v Toronto Dominion Bank (2012 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team acting for Glitnir, an Icelandic bank which failed in the financial crisis and is currently subject to Icelandic winding-up proceedings, in dispute against Toronto Dominion Bank over the interpretation and application of close-out provisions in the ISDA Master Agreement and over the close-out valuation of swap positions. Issues included how the market turmoil in late 2008 affected valuations, how to value a currency in crisis, how the principles of “clean” and “dirty” valuations are to be applied and how the non-defaulting party’s obligation to act in good faith is to be interpreted. Given that thousands of ISDA swap transactions were terminated during the global financial crisis, the case was topical and raised crucial issues of intense interest to financial institutions in the swaps market. The case settled before trial due in 2014. The case also follows a trend of cases on the interpretation of ISDA Master Agreement provisions, an area in which Ewan has previously secured a decision favourable to his client (BNP Paribas v Wockhardt EU Operations (Swiss) AG [2009] EWHC 3116 (Comm)).

Trebuchet Finance Ltd v Merrill Lynch International Bank Ltd (2011 – 2013) – Ewan led the counsel team acting for major investment bank Merrill Lynch/Bank of America in a landmark claim brought by a dissatisfied professional investor relating to a 2006 securitisation of sub-prime UK residential mortgages. The case raised important issues relating to the regulation and underwriting of sub-prime mortgages, the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on investments in sub-prime-related securities and the valuation of continuing investments in sub-prime securities. There has been a spate of litigation over such issues in the US but this was one of the first cases of its kind to emerge in England and would have had an effect on a wide range of security investments. The case settled in 2013.

Salford Capital Partners Inc v Krys and Greenwood (2014) – advising and acting for the liquidating trustees of the BVI based Value Discovery Fund, holding assets alleged to derive from Boris Berezovsky; issues relate to partners’ respective rights and interests in the fund and challenges to the procedure and substance of valuations and distributions of fund assets.

Citicorp International Limited v Shiv-Vani Oil and Gas (2014) – Ewan acted on behalf of the trustee of a multi-million dollar bond issue by Indian industrial Shiv-Vani to enforce judgment in the face of applications to stay on jurisdiction and case management grounds jurisdiction. Summary judgment awarded despite defences alleging illegality under Indian law and lack of approval from the Reserve Bank of India and anti-suit injunction restraining Indian winding up proceedings refused [2014] EWHC 245 (Comm).

Terra Firma v Citibank (2010 – 2014) – Ewan acted for Citibank as expert witness of English banking and financial law in its defence of Terra Firma’s (Guy Hands’) US$7 billion damages claim for alleged fraud and negligence in the acquisition of the EMI music group in 2007. The claim was dismissed at trial in the District Court but a retrial was ordered by the US Court of Appeals.

Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company v Al Sanea and others FSD 54 (2009 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team for the Algosaibi family of Saudi Arabia (AHAB) in a US$10 billion fraud claim against multiple parties including Maan Al Sanea (rated by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s richest individuals), the Saad group of companies formerly under his control in the Cayman Islands and multiple banks alleging that credit was obtained using the Algosaibi name. Multiple hearings at first instance and on appeal in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, including a successful judgment in excess of US$2billion against Maan Al Sanea and successfully resisting attempts by multiple parties to strike out claims in the Cayman action.

NML Capital Ltd v The Republic of Argentina (2011 – 2016) – acted and advised creditors of the Republic of Argentina in relation to its attempts to avoid payments under multiple syndicated loan facilities and under US and English judgments. Unprecedented order enforcing creditors’ interpretation of the widely used pari passu clause in sovereign bond agreements by way of injunction – upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and subsequently upheld in 2014 by the US Supreme Court.

Elliott VIN BV v Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (2011 – 2012) – acted for major US hedge fund enforcing sovereign debt claim against Vietnamese state entity, raised important issues of interpretation of LMA (Loan Market Association) standard documentation as to the effectiveness of assignments of loan participations, direct rights of action and recovery sharing.

Strategic Value Master Fund v Ideal Standard International [2011] EWHC 171 – key decision on the interpretation of standard syndicated loan facility documentation in relation to events of default, equity cures, notices of acceleration and waiver provisions.

KfW Bank v Euroclear Bank (2010 – 2011) – defending Euroclear bank against allegations that it negligently failed to accept collateral posted by Lehman shortly before its collapse. Raised the novel issue of whether a bank providing collateral management services can be liable for Lehman-related losses where there was a delay in accepting collateral.

Excalibur Funding Plc v Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Limited (2010 – 2011) – acted for the issuer of financial instruments against Lehman (in administration) over one of Lehman’s largest outstanding positions (€722m), seeking to set a precedent that Lehman transfer its noteholding following its insolvency.

BNP Paribas v Wockhardt EU Operations [2009] EWHC 3116 (Comm) – successfully represented BNP Paribas in an important decision on the meaning and effect of standard ISDA swaps terms, to the effect that termination and close out provisions are not void as constituting a penalty, on the application of the close out provisions under the 2002 ISDA and on early court disposal of swaps mis-selling allegations.

Kevin So v HSBC Bank Plc and Lucy Lu [2009] EWCA Civ 296 – successfully defended HSBC on appeal on 5th Avenue Partners bank fraud. The nine week trial is reported at [2007] EWHC 2819 (Comm) – a fraud by the Liberal Democrat’s biggest donor Michael Brown induced investors to pay monies into accounts opened at HSBC, Walker J found after nine week trial that the bank was not liable in claims in contract, dishonest assistance or negligence.

Bloomsbury International Ltd v Holyoake and otrs [2010] EWHC 1150 (Ch) – acted for administrators of British Seafoods in an alleged £210m banking fraud (referenced in the press as the “Madoff of the fishing industry”). Obtained and retained freezing orders, search orders and passport seizure orders. Clarified the law on the requirements of administrators to support cross undertakings and provided important guidance on conflicts of interests relating to accountants accepting insolvency appointments which may involve them suing former clients.

HJ Heinz Co Ltd v EFL Inc [2010] EWHC 1203 (Comm) – acted for Heinz food company in Commercial Court proceedings in successfully resisting enforcement of Hungarian Arbitration award on grounds of public policy. Fresh evidence of fraud available and issue not previously determined in Hungary.

LCIA arbitration, four week trial in May – June 2009, appeared for offshore hedge funds in an arbitration claim against administrators for alleged mispricing of securities and derivatives and misstatement of the NAV (net asset value).

Alphasteel Ltd v Shirkhani and otrs [2009] EWHC 2153 – successfully defended freezing and disclosure orders against allegations of non-disclosure and misrepresentation in banking fraud claim.

Lyons v HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd (2009 – 2010) – defended HSBC against allegations of mis-selling investments in AIG in the lead up to the financial crisis.

ICC Arbitration, trial in February 2009, appeared for Icelandic investors in Bulgarian banks in dispute over secret commissions and disbursement of sale proceeds.

Automotive Latch Systems Ltd v Honeywell International Inc [2008] All ER (D) 13 Oct; [2008] EWHC 2171 (Comm) – successfully defended Honeywell through 12-week trial against £3.5 billion claim relating to failed automotive development project; [2006] EWHC 2340 (Comm) – security for costs against start-up company justified when pursuing serious and major commercial litigation.

Uzinterimpex JSC v Standard Bank Plc [2007] 2 Lloyds Rep 187; [2007] EWHC 1151 (Comm) – successfully defending Standard Bank at trial against claims that an advance payment guarantee had been fraudulently called, and against claims of double payment. Appeared in arbitration proceedings relating to oil and gas concessions off West Africa. (2006)

Haller v Deutsche Bank (2005 – 2007) – defended Deutsche Bank against claim alleging entitlement to purchase distressed asset trading portfolio, settled 2007.

Kensington International Ltd v Republic of Congo/Ikechukwu Nwobodo [2006] All ER (D) 274; [2006] EWHC 1848 (Comm) – acting for judgment creditor of a State in successfully obtaining an order for cross-examination where the respondent’s activities were found to be mixed up in judgment evasion by the State.

Gallaher International Limited v Tlais Enterprises Limited (2006) – wide ranging litigation relating to alleged tobacco smuggling into the EU.

Guy Hands v Morrison Construction Services Ltd (16 June 2006 Lawtel No. AC9100910), Ch Div – successfully obtained wide ranging pre-action disclosure order in favour of Guy Hands in relation to lost investment in Rockingham speedway.

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo/Vitol Services Limited [2006] EWHC 1712 (Comm) – acted for judgment creditor of the Congo in successfully establishing that foreign execution proceedings are sufficient to grant interim relief under s25 CJJA 1982).

FG Hemisphere v Republic of Congo/Kensington International [2005] EWHC 3103 (Comm), Times 26 February 2006 – acted for judgment creditor of State in enforcing priority obtained through third party debt order and on court’s discretion to reopen judgment once delivered; successfully defended judgment creditor’s priority.

Kensington International Limited v Glencore Energy/the Republic of the Congo [2005] EWHC 2684 (Comm) – successfully piercing the corporate veil of a series of offshore companies on the basis of fraud to enforce judgments in England and, subsequently, Bermuda.

Themilodomi v Kleinwort Benson (2005) – successfully defended Kleinwort Benson against a claim relating to monies allegedly paid without authority.

Societa Finanzaria Insustrie SpA v Lefebvre [2004] All ER (D) 97 – worldwide freezing order in support of Italian proceedings successfully discharged on grounds of inexpediency under s25 of the CJJA 1982.

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2004] All ER (D) 76; [2004] EWHC 1015 (Ch) – successfully represented Morgan Grenfell at trial in a case which held that proper construction of letter of indemnity as applied to the Deutsche Bank group.

Kensington International Limited v Republic of Congo [2003] EWCA Civ 709 – successfully acting for State creditor in one of the rare English cases to consider the meaning of the widely used pari passu clause in international loan agreements).

Morgan Grenfell DCS Ltd v Arrows Autosport Ltd [2003] EWHC 333 – successfully acting for Morgan Grenfell in a case which decided whether a director Tom Walkinshaw was personally liable on his indemnity on the collapse of the Arrows Formula One team.

National Bank of Egypt International Ltd v Oman Housing Bank [2003] 1 All ER (Comm) 246 – acting for National Bank of Egypt in a case which decided whether bank liable to make restitution of unauthorised payments.

Commerzbank AG v Morgan Stanley Capital (2003) – claim over disputed derivatives transaction.

Investec Trust Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd (2016 – 2018) – Ewan led the successful counsel team representing BVI liquidators in the hearing in November 2017 of 9 appeals in the Privy Council from 5 decisions of the Guernsey Court of Appeal. The case concerns £150 million of claims against the Tchenguiz Discretionary Trust, a now insolvent trust connected to failed Icelandic bank Kaupthing and to property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz and his highly publicised disputes with the SFO and with Grant Thornton office holders, following the SFO’s controversial raid of Tchenguiz’s UK based businesses. The Privy Council ruled on these appeals in April 2018 paving the way for enforcement proceedings against Tchenguiz’s assets including his prestigious property opposite the Albert Hall. The ruling addresses a number of complex but unresolved issues of wide importance to the trust industry relating to the private international law rules governing trustee liability, the personal liability of trustees to trust creditors in commercial dealings (where local statutes purport to limit that liability) and the true scope and effectiveness of clauses purporting to exclude trustee liability. The ruling also addresses the much debated doctrine of free acceptance in an unjust enrichment claim.

Phones 4u Limited v Vodafone Group (2016 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team of both commercial and competition law juniors in Vodafone’s defence of this claim by the administrators of the now insolvent Phones 4u, claiming that Vodafone in combination with other mobile network operators caused the highly publicised collapse into insolvency of Phones 4u (with its 720 outlets and 5,000 jobs) in late 2014. Essentially Phones 4u through its administrators alleges that Vodafone colluded with other mobile network operators to coordinate their withdrawal from Phones 4u and put it out of business and thereby cut out the costs of having an intermediary between them and their market. The headline value of the claim is the entire business value of Phones 4u as an enterprise and is alleged to run to some £1.2 billion. The case has generated considerable publicity.

VTB Bank AG v PJSC Bank Uralsib (2016 – 2017) – Ewan led the counsel team defending Russian bank (Uralsib) against claims made by various bank lenders in this substantial LCIA arbitration which took place in London in April 2017. The claim raised multiple unresolved questions as to the legality and effect of “bail-in” provisions introduced after the financial crisis in the UK and in many of the major economies, designed to ensure that in the future insolvent banks are no longer bailed out by the taxpayer, but that losses are absorbed by the institutions which have provided finance to the now-insolvent bank on a subordinated basis. In this case subordinated bank lenders whose debts had been discharged in a Russian “bail-in” procedure designed to recue Uralsib from insolvency nevertheless sued to recover those debts. The case also raised novel and controversial questions as to whether the effectiveness of a “bail-in” procedure is capable of being the subject of an arbitration at all. Case value approx. US$300m.

Kaupthing hf v Goldman Sachs/Morgan Stanley International (2017) – Ewan acted as expert witness of English banking and insolvency law in proceedings between Kaupthing hf and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley International in the District Court of Reykjavik, Iceland. The Icelandic Court was addressing the question of whether (for the purposes of the European Winding-up Directive in relation credit institutions) English law permitted a means of challenging a series of high value swaps transactions entered into by Kaupthing in the lead up to the financial crisis and the near collapse of the Icelandic banking system. The case (valued around US$100m) involved some highly unusual challenges to the swaps which were self-referencing ie the underlying reference asset was Kaupthing itself.

Sonera Holding BV v Cukurova Holding AS (2015 – 2018) – Ewan is leading the team acting for Turkish State bank TS Ziraat in this long running dispute over the ownership and control of the largest Turkish mobile services provider Turkcell, thought to be valued at several billion US$. The dispute has already resulted in seven Privy Council hearings and rulings, on appeal from the BVI, as well as a trial and multiple hearings in the BVI High Court and Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and three arbitrations. The central disputes revolve around alleged breaches by the Turkish interests (Cukurova) of agreements to sell to Scandinavian interests, attempts to enforce judgments and arbitration awards emanating from that dispute, an appropriation of the shares by Russian interests (Alfa) and their later redemption after hotly contested litigation. March-April 2016 saw the substantive hearing in LCIA arbitration of Cukurova’s and Alfa’s competing claims that each is entitled to buy-out the other’s shareholding, with a final award being made in September 2016. December 2016 saw further contested hearings in which Ziraat successfully resisted the appointment of receivers over Cukurova’s interests in its shares and its interest under the LCIA Award. Case value around $2 billion.

David John Standish and Richard Heis (as joint liquidators of Quarry Hill Investments Limited) v Robert Basil Hersov (2013 – 2015) – Ewan led the claimant team in this heavyweight insolvency claim brought against the international businessman Robert Hersov by the joint liquidators of a company of which he used to be a director. The liquidators (partners in KPMG) alleged that Mr Hersov breached his duties to the company, or engaged in wrongful trading, by causing the company to issue letter agreements to two European banks. The letter agreements related to more than EUR 250 million of liabilities incurred in share trading by the controversial German businessman Lars Windhorst. The liquidators alleged that Mr Hersov’s conduct caused the company to suffer losses into the hundreds of millions of pounds and claimed a contribution from him on that basis.

Glitnir HF v Toronto Dominion Bank (2012 – 2014) – Ewan led the counsel team acting for Glitnir, an Icelandic bank which failed in the financial crisis and is currently subject to Icelandic winding-up proceedings, in dispute against Toronto Dominion Bank over the interpretation and application of close-out provisions in the ISDA Master Agreement and over the close-out valuation of swap positions. Issues included how the market turmoil in late 2008 affected valuations, how to value a currency in crisis, how the principles of “clean” and “dirty” valuations are to be applied and how the non-defaulting party’s obligation to act in good faith is to be interpreted. Given that thousands of ISDA swap transactions were terminated during the global financial crisis, the case was topical and raised crucial issues of intense interest to financial institutions in the swaps market. The case settled before trial due in 2014. The case also follows a trend of cases on the interpretation of ISDA Master Agreement provisions, an area in which Ewan has previously secured a decision favourable to his client (BNP Paribas v Wockhardt EU Operations (Swiss) AG [2009] EWHC 3116 (Comm)).

Fortress Value Recovery Fund & Others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund & Others (2010 – 2014) – Ewan led the four-strong counsel team (including David Quest QC) acting for the claimant, a major US hedge fund, in a claim against 22 defendants, represented by three separate teams of eight counsel in total, that its English-based investment structure was reorganized in violation of its rights and prejudicing its debt and equity interests. At its core, the case is a novel and complex fraud. Ewan was successful in multiple interlocutory applications including the important ruling of Flaux J in January 2013 ([2013] EWHC 14 (Comm)) relating to the operation of s423 claims in fraud of creditors and the circumstances in which it may be invoked in a complex fraud case.

Primeo/Herald Funds and Pioneer Alternative Investment Management (2013 – 2014) – advising the Unicredit Group (including Pioneer) in relation to attempts made to wind up the Herald Fund in the Cayman Islands and in relation to proceedings in the US brought by the Madoff trustee in bankruptcy. The case is part of wider litigation in the Cayman Islands and the USA resulting from the collapse into insolvency of Bernard Madoff’s New York investment advisory business and his subsequent imprisonment. This aspect centres on the issue control over Cayman Islands funds which invested heavily in and received monies from the Madoff group and which are the target of recovery actions by the US trustee in bankruptcy.

In recent years Ewan has advised and acted on various high-end corporate and debt restructurings and administrations including the complex billion-pound restructuring of the NHP Group (care homes), Carl Zeiss group, Four Seasons Hotels, Southern Cross Healthcare, Endemol group (entertainment) and Cattles Plc (UK’s largest sub-prime lender).

Citicorp International Limited v Shiv-Vani Oil and Gas (2014) – Ewan acted on behalf of the trustee of a multi-million dollar bond issue by Indian industrial Shiv-Vani to enforce judgment in the face of applications to stay on jurisdiction and case management grounds jurisdiction. Summary judgment awarded despite defences alleging illegality under Indian law and lack of approval from the Reserve Bank of India and anti-suit injunction restraining Indian winding up proceedings refused [2014] EWHC 245 (Comm).

Asegaai Consultants Ltd v Mistry [2012] EWHC 1899 (Ch) – landmark decision against fraudulent insolvency practitioners. Successfully acted for successor liquidators in obtaining 12-year disqualification order after trial against corrupt insolvency practitioner. Unprecedented application by successor liquidators.

Excalibur Funding Plc v Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Limited (2010 – 2011) – acted for the issuer of financial instruments against Lehman (in administration) over one of Lehman’s largest outstanding positions (€722m), seeking to set a precedent that Lehman transfer its noteholding following its insolvency.

Bloomsbury International Ltd v Holyoake and otrs [2010] EWHC 1150 (Ch) – acted for administrators of British Seafoods in an alleged £210m banking fraud (referenced in the press as the “Madoff of the fishing industry”). Obtained and retained freezing orders, search orders and passport seizure orders. Clarified the law on the requirements of administrators to support cross undertakings and provided important guidance on conflicts of interests relating to accountants accepting insolvency appointments which may involve them suing former clients.

Tower Gate Developments v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (2010 – 2011) – acted for the administrators of the Icelandic-owned bank Kaupthing in defending allegations that the bank was de facto insolvent many months before its administration and as a result in breach of multiple obligations to customers and misrepresentation.

Halabi v Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (2009) – acted for Kaupthing (in administration) enforcing claims in relation to property development and investment lending.

Advised Bank of England in relation to remedies available on collapse of Icelandic banks.

Advising and acting for prime brokerage clients of Lehman Brothers on implications of its administration (2008 – 2009).

Cambridge Gas Transpor Corporation v Official Committee of Creditors of Navigator Holdings [2006] UKPC 26; [2006] 3 All ER 829 – successfully represented Official Committee of Creditors of Navigator Group in obtaining landmark Privy Council decision approving implementation of US Chapter 11 Plan of reorganisation under common law principles.

Eurotunnel Group (2005 – 2006) – advised in relation to negotiations for restructuring of multi-billion £ debt of Eurotunnel Group.

Teesside Power Limited v Enron Capital & Trade (2005) – acted for energy company in dispute over the effect of Enron’s US Chapter 11 Plan on English energy contracts.

Arquebus Ltd v Caledonian Trust Co (2004 – 2006) – defended Isle of Man trust company against allegations of involvement in failed offshore investment fund.

Queen’s Moat Houses v Capita IRG Trustees Ltd [2004] EWHC 868 (Ch) – successfully argued that QMH entitled to withdraw hotel property from debenture security.

Morris and others v Bank of America (2003) – representing liquidators of BCCI in fraudulent trading claim against Bank of America, settled 2004.

Re Namco UK Ltd [2003] BCLC 78 – COMI considered for purposes of appointment of provisional liquidators.

Re Trading Partners Ltd, Akers v Lomas [2002] 1 BCLC 655, [2002] BPIR 606 – English receivers obliged to make disclosure to foreign liquidators.

Raga Establishment Limited v SCM Financial Overseas Limited (2016 – current) – Ewan is leading the counsel team for Ukrainian-based SCM Financial (said to be controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, reputedly Ukraine’s richest oligarch) and related parties which purchased Ukraine’s largest telcoms operator Ukrtelcom in 2013 for around $1 billion. The case involves allegations that SCM’s vendor Raga previously colluded in a corrupt and rigged privatisation process in acquiring this asset from the Ukrainian state on its privatisation in 2011, with the result that it is now likely that the shares will be confiscated by the state of Ukraine in proceedings there. Multiple violations of Ukrainian civil and criminal law have been alleged together with misuse of the Ukrainian banking system by illegally funding the privatisation using bonds issued by Ukrainian sovereign banks. There have been a number of substantial LCIA arbitration hearings in London in 2017 and 2019 with an application to the Commercial Court seeking to remit one or more arbitral awards heard in May 2018. Parallel proceedings continue in Cyprus (now alleging that SCM is insolvent and has wrongfully dissipated assets to avoid Raga’s claims). The case value is around US$1 billion.

Sonera Holding BV v Cukurova Holding AS (2015 – 2018) – Ewan is leading the team acting for Turkish State bank TS Ziraat in this long running dispute over the ownership and control of the largest Turkish mobile services provider Turkcell, thought to be valued at several billion US$. The dispute has already resulted in seven Privy Council hearings and rulings, on appeal from the BVI, as well as a trial and multiple hearings in the BVI High Court and Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and three arbitrations. The central disputes revolve around alleged breaches by the Turkish interests (Cukurova) of agreements to sell to Scandinavian interests, attempts to enforce judgments and arbitration awards emanating from that dispute, an appropriation of the shares by Russian interests (Alfa) and their later redemption after hotly contested litigation. March-April 2016 saw the substantive hearing in LCIA arbitration of Cukurova’s and Alfa’s competing claims that each is entitled to buy-out the other’s shareholding, with a final award being made in September 2016. December 2016 saw further contested hearings in which Ziraat successfully resisted the appointment of receivers over Cukurova’s interests in its shares and its interest under the LCIA Award. Case value around $2 billion.

VTB Bank AG v PJSC Bank Uralsib (2016 – 2017) – Ewan led the counsel team defending Russian bank (Uralsib) against claims made by various bank lenders in this substantial LCIA arbitration which took place in London in April 2017. The claim raised multiple unresolved questions as to the legality and effect of “bail-in” provisions introduced after the financial crisis in the UK and in many of the major economies, designed to ensure that in the future insolvent banks are no longer bailed out by the taxpayer, but that losses are absorbed by the institutions which have provided finance to the now-insolvent bank on a subordinated basis. In this case subordinated bank lenders whose debts had been discharged in a Russian “bail-in” procedure designed to recue Uralsib from insolvency nevertheless sued to recover those debts. The case also raised novel and controversial questions as to whether the effectiveness of a “bail-in” procedure is capable of being the subject of an arbitration at all. Case value approx. US$300m.

Fortress Value Recovery Fund & Others v Blue Skye Special Opportunities Fund & Others (2010 – 2014) – Ewan led the four-strong counsel team (including David Quest QC) acting for the claimant, a major US hedge fund, in a claim against 22 defendants, represented by three separate teams of eight counsel in total, that its English-based investment structure was reorganized in violation of its rights and prejudicing its debt and equity interests. At its core, the case is a novel and complex fraud. Ewan was successful in a number of important interlocutory disputes through 2012 and into 2013, most notably the important and novel interlocutory decision of Blair J at [2012] EWHC 1486 (against Tim Lord QC), upheld by the Court of Appeal (against Mark Hapgood QC) at [2013] EWCA Civ 367, on the circumstances in which a third party may (or may not) take advantage of an arbitration agreement under the Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Act 1999 – a decision which has been a welcome clarification to the law in relation to the interplay between the 1999 Act and the Arbitration Act 1996.

HJ Heinz Co Ltd v EFL Inc [2010] EWHC 1203 (Comm) – acted for Heinz food company in Commercial Court proceedings in successfully resisting enforcement of Hungarian Arbitration award on grounds of public policy. Fresh evidence of fraud available and issue not previously determined in Hungary.

LCIA arbitration, four week trial in May – June 2009, appeared for offshore hedge funds in an arbitration claim against administrators for alleged mispricing of securities and derivatives and misstatement of the NAV (net asset value).

ICC Arbitration, trial in February 2009, appeared for Icelandic investors in Bulgarian banks in dispute over secret commissions and disbursement of sale proceeds.

Appeared in arbitration proceedings relating to oil and gas concessions off West Africa (2006).

Chambers & Partners 2024 and Legal 500 2024 include the following praise for Ewan.

“Outstanding on his feet, pragmatic, and has enormous skill and knowledge.”
“Ewan exudes calm and sophistication and is excellent with clients.”
“A ‘go to’ silk for heavyweight cases; hugely experienced in complex trial cases; very strategic and strong in court.”
“Ewan is a go-to silk for heavyweight cases, hugely experienced in complex trial cases, very strategic and strong in court – including in cross-examination.”
“Once he is in full flow, he is the most amazing advocate to sit and listen to.”
“Ewan McQuater is a go-to silk for heavyweight cases. He is hugely experienced in complex trial cases; very strategic and strong in court, including cross-examination.”
“Ewan is a sophisticated, understated advocate. He’s totally reliable and never makes a mistake. Everyone has confidence in what he does.”
“Ewan is a real heavyweight – someone you want with you in the toughest of fights. His gravitas and tenacity really helps. It’s easy to see why he is a leader in the offshore field.”
“He’s a real heavyweight and it’s easy to see why he’s a leader in the field. A true strategist, he’s someone you want with you in the toughest of fights. His gravitas and tenacity really shine through.”
“Really impressive in terms of his performances at trial and his running of massive pieces of litigation.”
“Ewan McQuater has a very effective court style and is always well prepared.”
“A go-to silk for heavyweight cases. Ewan is hugely experienced at handling complex trial cases and is very strategic and strong in court.”
“Ewan is a very impressive opponent and an incredible detail merchant.”
“He is a go-to silk for heavyweight cases, hugely experienced in complex trial cases and very strategic.”
“It’s easy to see why he is a leader in the field. He is a true strategist.”
“Ewan is a top-level banking and financial services silk. He exudes gravitas, has a sharp mind and strong attention to detail and he instinctively knows which points to take and which to leave. He can always see the wood for the trees on complex cases.”
“Ewan is a really high-class operator and at the top of the market. He has a very clear strategic view, but is not afraid to get into the details. His advocacy is always persuasive, and he knows instinctively which points to press and which to leave behind.”
“Bright, strategic and articulate. A go-to banking, civil fraud and insolvency disputes silk.”
“Very intelligent, thorough, focused on winning and an excellent advocate.”
“Very good advocate and strategist. Excellent legal analysis.”
“Strong intellect, understanding of what is important and likely to turn the outcome of a case, good grasp of the detail and fantastic advocacy skills.”
Winner: UK Bar Awards 2023
The Lawyer Awards 2022: Chambers of the Year