Tom Rainsbury

Tom is a specialist in fraud and asset recovery, acting for institutions, companies, private clients and enforcement bodies. He has experience of a wide range of common law and equitable claims, including deceit, conspiracy, bribery and corruption, breach of trust, tracing, fraudulent misrepresentation, knowing receipt and dishonest assistance. Recent cases have involved allegations of advance fee fraud, authorised push payment fraud, embezzlement, forgery, false invoicing, insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, Ponzi schemes, racketeering and tax evasion. He often advises on legal professional privilege and contempt issues. He is regularly instructed in applications for, and challenges to, injunctive relief including freezing orders, proprietary injunctions, NPOs and Bankers Trust orders. Recent instructions have included:

• Steenbok Newco 10 SARL v Formal Holdings Ltd – acted for the claimants (led by Andrew Ayres KC) in a €95million claim in the Commercial Court arising from South Africa’s largest ever private sector fraud scandal, raising issues of German, Austrian, Swiss and BVI law
• Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd v Ghedia – acted for the claimant (sole counsel) in successful applications to the Commercial Court for a freezing order, proprietary injunction, NPOs and default judgment (with declaratory relief) in respect of £1.2million which was paid out under a life insurance policy as a result of fraudulent misrepresentations; see press report is here
• Operation Grace: instructed by the claimant (sole counsel) in successful applications to the Commercial Court for NPOs against six banks requiring disclosure of information about 28 bank accounts which had received 325 transfers, following a significant investigation by KPMG Forensic
• DPP v Plepys [2023] EWHC 2332 (KB) – acted in a successful application to recover funds held in a HSBC bank account after a request for mutual legal assistance by the US Department of Justice
• SFO v Jammal [2021] EWHC 1422 (Admin) (Cavanagh J) – acted for the SFO (sole counsel) in successful applications for a freezing order and summary judgment in respect of monies held in the Court Funds Office connected to a multi-jurisdictional advance fee fraud
• Advising a victim of a £1million investment fraud on intervening in parallel criminal proceedings brought by the FCA in order to assert a proprietary interest in restrained assets (applying SFO v Lexi Holdings)
• Instructed by a well-known High Street company in a successful application to the Commercial Court for an NPO to assist in tracing funds obtained through a substantial and sophisticated APP fraud by persons unknown

Tom has a busy financial services practice. He is often instructed in regulatory investigations and proceedings, acting for individuals and firms in connection with a full range of financial service matters including investments, PPI, loan finance, mortgages and AML. He has an excellent knowledge of the FCA regulatory framework as well as particular expertise in bringing judicial review challenges against decisions made by the FOS, FCA and FSCS. Recent cases include:

• R (Assurant General Insurance Ltd) v FOS [2023] EWCA Civ 1049; [2024] 1 All ER (Comm) 640 (Singh, Peter Jackson, Warby LJJ) – acted for the claimant (led by Saima Hanif KC) in an important case before the Court of Appeal concerning the correct approach of the High Court in judicial review challenges to the FOS’s jurisdiction (the underlying complaints involved allegations of mis-sold PPI and implied agency)
• R (MAS5 Ltd) v FOS [2022] EWHC 1979 (Admin); [2022] CTLC 89 (Griffiths J) – acted for the claimant bank (led by John Taylor KC) in a judicial review claim challenging the FOS’s decision to consider complaints about historic variations to the standard variable rate of interest on the ground that these were time-barred under DISP 2.8.2
• Settling judicial review proceedings against a decision by the FOS that a valid “complaint” had been made within the meaning of the FCA Handbook Glossary which was sufficient to trigger the FOS’s jurisdiction
• Advising on a judicial review challenge to an assessment of loss by the FSCS after unauthorised and unregulated investments were made under the terms of a Discretionary Client Agreement (which the FSCS sought to justify by reference to Emptage v FSCS [2013] EWCA Civ 729)
• Advising on a judicial review challenge to a decision by the FOS concerning the fairness of a discretionary commission arrangement in a finance agreement

Tom is a leading junior in financial crime. He specialises in cases at the intersection of civil and criminal law. He is regularly instructed in civil proceedings for the recovery of assets obtained through fraud and money laundering, including proceedings which involve assets linked to the Azerbaijani Laundromat, the 1MDB scandal and the largest ever seizure of Bitcoin in the UK. Alongside his busy litigation practice, he frequently advises companies on AML issues including customer due diligence, reporting and enforcement by supervisory authorities. He is a contributor to Mitchell, Taylor and Talbot on Confiscation and the Proceeds of Crime, authoring the chapter on investigations. Tom has been involved in several notable cases in recent years:

• NCA v Kraken (2024) – acted for the NCA (sole counsel) in the Agency’s first application for a crypto-wallet freezing order in respect of assets traceable to a high-profile hack of a crypto-currency exchange
• NCA v Feyziyev [2023] EWHC 1562 (Admin) (Heather Williams J); [2024] EWHC 501 (Admin) (Poole J) – acted for the NCA (led by Andrew Sutcliffe KC) in successfully opposing an application to discharge a property freezing order by a member of the National Assembly in Azerbaijan (restraining 23 properties valued at £50million including two flats in Chelsea Barracks); see press report is here
• NCA v Younis [2023] EWHC 2477 (Admin); [2024] ACD 16 (Cockerill J) – acted for the NCA (sole counsel) in successful applications for an unexplained wealth order and (after non-compliance with the UWO) a property freezing order in respect of 14 properties; this was the first application for a UWO in England & Wales after the amendments in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022); see press report is here
• Petrosaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd v NCA [2022] EWHC 920 (Admin); [2022] EWHC 3213 (Admin) (Griffiths J) – acted for the NCA (led by Martin Evans KC) in a successful application for a prohibition order and appointment of a receiver in respect of a £240million fund held in the Court Funds Office (after the US Department of Justice had brought proceedings in California which alleged that POSVL had been used as a vehicle for laundering money stolen from the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund)
• DPP v Briedis [2021] EWHC 3155 (Admin); [2022] ACD 19 (Fordham J); [2022] EWHC 3431 (Admin); [2023] 1 Cr App R 18 (Foster J) – acted for the DPP in successful applications for a property freezing order and disclosure order; the case confirmed that crypto-assets are property for the purposes of POCA
• R (Javadov) v Westminster MC [2021] EWHC 2751 (Admin); [2022] 1 All ER 730 (Fulford LJ, Johnson J) – acted for the NCA (led by Andrew Bird KC) in judicial review proceedings addressing the issue of whether applications for account freezing orders should be heard in private; the assets were suspected to have been laundered through the Azerbaijani Laundromat; see press report is here
• NCA v Hajiyeva [2018] 1 WLR 5887 (Supperstone J); [2020] EWCA Civ 108; [2020] 2 All ER (Comm) 741 (Lord Burnett CJ, Davis and Simon LJJ) – acted as junior counsel (led by Jonathan Hall KC) in the first ever application for an unexplained wealth order; the case involved arguments about whether the respondent was a PEP, implied ouster of committal proceedings, privilege against self-incrimination, and A1P1 ECHR; subsequent civil recovery proceedings resulted in the recovery of a mansion in Mayfair and golf club in Ascot; see press report is here

Tom acts in a wide range of contentious and non-contentious banking matters. He is instructed in cases involving allegations that a bank has failed to take appropriate action (e.g. Quincecare claims) or has taken too much action (e.g. breach of mandate claims) in response to conduct which is indicative of fraud or money laundering. He also has experience of claims arising from the alleged mis-selling of PPI and claims for the recovery of sums under guarantees. He often advises on the disclosure of information by banks to third parties, including: the contractual duty of confidence; Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust Orders; Suspicious Activity Reports and the consent regime under Part 5 of POCA; information-sharing under s.7 of the Crime and Courts Act 2003; and reporting obligations under the UK sanctions regime. Tom is also a specialist in the freezing of bank accounts, including moratorium periods, account freezing orders, and asset freezes against designated persons or proxies. Recent instructions include:

• Acted for a bank (sole counsel) in successfully resisting an application for an NPO requiring disclosure of Suspicious Activity Reports made during an APP fraud
• Acted for a bank in a successful application to strike out a winding up petition by a customer whose accounts had been frozen
• Acted for an interested party (sole counsel) in a claim against a bank which had refused to carry out a banking mandate after consent was refused by the UK Financial Intelligence Unit under Part 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000
• Advised on an application for a Further Information Order requiring a foreign bank to provide further information in connection with a Suspicious Activity Report
• Advised a banking trade association on the provision of customer information to law enforcement agencies under s.7 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013

Tom regularly advises and represents clients (often as sole counsel and at short notice) in applications for injunctive relief in the High Court. He has considerable experience of freezing orders and disclosure orders. He regularly advises on issues such as: risk of dissipation, full and frank disclosure, abuse of process, anonymity/privacy, exceptions, ancillary disclosure, cross-undertakings, penal notices and committal proceedings. Recent illustrative cases include:

• Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd v Ghedia (Henshaw J) – acted for the claimant (sole counsel) in a successful application for a freezing order and proprietary injunction in respect of funds which were already restrained in parallel criminal proceedings
• R (KCL) v HMRC [2023] EWHC 773 (Bourne J) – acted for HMRC (sole counsel) in successfully opposing an application for urgent interim relief from the immediate cancellation of a company’s registration to act as a money service business
• Petrosaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd v NCA [2022] EWHC 3213 (Griffiths J) – acted for the respondent (junior counsel) in successfully opposing an application for an exclusion of £5.95million for business expenses and legal expenses arising from litigation in UK, Malaysia, USA, France and Switzerland.
• Acted in an urgent application for an injunction preventing a company from holding a general meeting in order to vote on a resolution to remove a director

Tom has a strong practice in judicial review proceedings. He acts for claimants, defendants, and interested parties, often in cases which are at the intersection of public law and commercial law. He is well versed in the procedural issues which arise in such claims including delay, standing, alternative remedies, disclosure, interim relief, and remedies. He is a member of the Attorney General’s B Panel of Counsel to the Crown, acting for government departments in a wide range of civil disputes. He is an editor of the Administrative Court Digest, which is widely used by practitioners in this field. Tom has also interned at the European Court of Human Rights. Recent cases have raised issues of company law, financial services and money laundering, and include:

• R (MCML Ltd, formerly ED&F Man) v HMRC [2024] EWHC 861 (Admin); [2024] EWHC 1470 (Admin) (Whipple LJ, Hilliard J) – acted for HMRC (junior counsel) in successfully opposing eight grounds of judicial review challenging the legality of search warrants which were obtained pursuant to requests for mutual legal assistance from Denmark and Germany (in connection with investigations into suspected Cum-Ex fraud totalling £500 million), including a complaint that HMRC had failed to disclose information about the parallel Commercial Court and Court of Appeal proceedings in Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners LLP
• R (Assurant General Insurance Ltd) v FOS [2023] EWCA Civ 1049; [2024] 1 All ER (Comm) 640 (Singh, Peter Jackson, Warby LJJ) – acted for the claimant (led by Saima Hanif KC) in an important appeal concerning the correct approach of the High Court in judicial review challenges to the FOS’s jurisdiction (the underlying complaints involved allegations of mis-sold PPI and implied agency)
• R (Kingdom Corporate Ltd) v HMRC [2023] EWHC 3315 (Admin); [2024] 1 WLR 2157 (Bean LJ, Tipples J) – acted for HMRC (sole counsel) in successfully opposing a judicial review claim challenging a decision to re-seize £400,000 from a regulated money service business
• R (MAS5 Ltd) v Financial Ombudsman Service [2022] EWHC 1979 (Admin); [2022] CTLC 89 (Griffiths J) – acted for the claimant (led by John Taylor KC) in a judicial review claim challenging the FOS’s decision to consider complaints about historic variations to the standard variable rate of interest on the ground that these were time-barred under DISP 2.8.2
• Advised HM Treasury (sole counsel) in relation to a judicial review challenge to statutory guidance concerning the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Payer Regulations 2017
• Advised a bank in relation to judicial review proceedings in the ADGM Court of First Instance concerning decisions to continue companies into the free zone

Tom is often instructed in cases involving the media, privacy and the press. He has recent trial experience in high-profile copyright litigation. He is a specialist in cases involving issues of anonymity and open justice. Tom also has an established practice in data protection and information law. Recent illustrative cases include:

• Sheeran v Chokri [2021] EWHC 3553 (Ch) (Meade J); [2022] EWHC 827; [2022] FSR 15 (Zacaroli J) – instructed by the defendants (led by Andrew Sutcliffe KC) in proceedings brought by Ed Sheeran and others for a declaration that the hit song “Shape of You” did not infringe copyright in the song “Oh Why” by the grime artist Sami Chokri
• R (Marandi) v Westminster MC [2023] EWHC 587 (Admin); [2023] 2 Cr. App. R. 15 (Warby LJ, Mostyn J) – important Divisional Court decision on the open justice principle (concerning the making of anonymity orders to protect the identity of persons who are named in but are not parties to litigation)
• Gerhold v Information Commissioner [2021] UKFTT 2020_0202 – acted for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (sole counsel) in successfully resisting an application to obtain minutes of meetings concerning the proposed siting of the Holocaust Memorial next to the Houses of Parliament
• Burley v Information Commissioner [2021] UKFTT 2019_0026 – acted for the Ministry of Justice (sole counsel) in successfully resisting an application to obtain transcripts of interviews with senior members with the judiciary on the impact of legal aid reforms on the administration of justice (raising the constitutional principle of judicial independence)
• NCA v Mrs A (Ruling on Anonymity) [2018] EWHC 2603 (Admin); [2018] ACD 132 (Supperstone J) – decision to discharge an anonymity order preventing publication of details about the first subject of an unexplained wealth order

Tom has a specialist practice in sanctions. His experience includes asset freezes, due diligence and reporting obligations, exceptions to prohibitions and applications for Treasury licences, investigations and enforcement of breaches. He often advises on whether an entity is “owned or controlled directly or indirectly” by a designated person. Tom has delivered lectures to legal professionals in this field and, while many of his cases are confidential, recent instructions include:

• LIC Telecommunications SARL v Maze SARL – acted for the defendant (sole counsel) in a successful application to the Commercial Court for a debarring order consequent upon non-payment of costs after satisfying the Court that the defendant was not directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a designated person under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 or would make funds available to a sanctioned entity
• Serious Fraud Office v Jammal [2021] EWHC 1422 (Admin) (Cavanagh J) – acted for the SFO to freeze money bound for a Lebanese bank which was sanctioned by the US for facilitating banking for a terrorist organisation; see press report is here
• Acting for law enforcement bodies in cases involving suspected breaches of sanctions legislation

Tom represents and advises clients in a wide range of professional negligence disputes, including claims involving financial and legal professionals. He acts for both claimants and defendants. His experience includes proceedings against legal professionals for failing to prevent cyber-attacks and fraud.