The Sanctions in Disputes Forum 2024

Olga Bischof is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group, where she practices in all areas of commercial litigation and arbitration with an emphasis on complex fraud.

She has represented clients in disputes in all divisions of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and pursuant to the rules of many arbitration institutions. Olga also has a wide range of experience of litigating in offshore jurisdictions, such as the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus.

Olga was ranked in Chambers UK 2020 as an Up-and-Coming Lawyer for Fraud: Civil and was described as “impressive and knows her stuff”.

Olga speaks Russian, English, and German.

John Binns is a specialist in proceeds of crime laws, cannabis regulation, sanctions, and tax investigations. He has extensive experience in financial crime, which also involves bribery and corruption, extradition, Interpol, fraud, market abuse, and the conduct of related civil proceedings. He is a prolific writer and speaker on a variety of topics.

Sue is an experienced and well-respected litigator whose expertise is recognised in the leading directories. Her practice is  broad, encompassing finance litigation, sanctions, civil fraud and corporate and commercial disputes. Clients value her responsiveness and her commitment to finding solutions to complex problems. She leads the firm's sanctions practice and co-heads the firm's "technically strong" finance litigation team.

Elena is a Barrister with over 15 years’ experience in contentious financial regulation and corporate and white-collar crime. Elena is currently Assistant General Counsel at Wells Fargo Bank’, London Branch in Financial Crime Legal. Elena previously worked at the Financial Conduct Authority in Enforcement Legal advising on regulatory/civil Enforcement cases against both firms and individuals and conducting litigation and advocacy before the Regulatory Decisions Committee, the Upper Tribunal and Courts. Elena also advised on contentious Authorization refusal cases and on Supervisory action. Elena started her career as a Criminal Barrister before holding positions in city law firms specializing in Financial Regulation, economic crime and internal investigations and has particular expertise in AML, Fraud, ABC and Sanctions.

Syed's great depth of experience in serious fraud, financial crime and multi-jurisdictional investigations has earmarked him as a robust solicitor. He is proficient in both civil and criminal cases, where there is an allegation of corporate wrongdoing. Syed has substantial experience in advising corporate entities and their directors and officers in relation to investigations conducted by all the major enforcement agencies. He has also built an impressive reputation in the field of asset-tracing and recovery, with a respected track record regarding international disputes where urgent relief is required involving freezing orders and recovering misappropriated assets.

Syed is recognised for his sector-leading, pioneering cryptocurrency work, having secured a number of significant legal firsts when representing institutions and individuals. His specialist expertise in civil recovery proceedings under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has also led to him recording notable successes for clients in national and international cases.

Syed has a dynamic practice involving complex sanctions issues and related litigation. He has notable cases in this area, including representation of public limited companies (PLC’s) trading on the London Stock Exchange in relation to international sanctions on Russia, public joint-stock companies (PJSC’s) trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange regarding UK and EU sanctions on Russia and a major Russian power engineering company headquartered in St Petersburg relating to international sanctions advice. Syed regularly prepares licence applications to release frozen funds or economic resources for designated persons and entities. He is also adept at challenging sanctions designations.

He is known for his abilities in multijurisdictional, worldwide asset recovery cases – including obtaining and defending the full range of injunctions - high-stakes commercial and financial disputes and cross-border investigations involving attacks on clients’ interests by numerous governments or agencies. His skill in defending high-profile corruption, fraud and regulatory allegations and his ability to negotiate with investigators have ensured his clients receive the strongest representation.

The Chambers UK Guide regularly ranks Syed as an elite solicitor. It has called him “a very technically gifted lawyer’’ and has said he “gets on top of all the facts in complex cases’’. Chambers has described him as “very committed to the work he does’’ and said he “leaves no stone unturned and has a passion for what he does’’. It has repeatedly highlighted his expertise in POCA work and asset recovery proceedings. The 2023 edition of Chambers praises his ability to “forge ground in fast-developing areas’’ and his cryptocurrency case skills.

Syed’s clients include corporates and their directors, financial institutions, hedge funds, high net worth individuals and international private clients around the world. Syed has a particular interest in litigation arising from mergers and acquisitions, derivatives and securities offerings (IPO’s, SPAC IPO’s and debt offerings) and works with private equity funds and private sponsors for public companies.

He is adept at advising corporate entities and their directors and officers on their regulatory and compliance obligations and in investigations conducted by agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs. His ability to assess complex issues, establish the facts and analyse challenging sets of circumstances have seen him excel on internal investigations carried out for Rahman Ravelli’s corporate clients.

Syed routinely advises clients in FCA investigations into alleged market abuse, breaches of regulated activities and unauthorised trading. He is sought by asset management firms and chief investment officers at hedge funds facing enforcement proceedings and financial services litigation.

The Legal 500 has called Syed “a creative thinker’’, “a master of detail’’ and someone who “entirely devotes himself to his cases’’. It has drawn attention to the wide variety of global corporate wrongdoing and multi-jurisdictional bribery and corruption investigations he has worked on. It has praised his “incredible depth of experience when it comes to fraud matters, and in particular those with an international element or where the National Crime Agency are involved.’’ The 2023 edition calls him “one of the most well-respected names’’ in the legal world and emphasises his abilities in emerging areas such as SPACs and cryptocurrency fraud.

Syed is also in demand to work on cases where there is the possibility of securing a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for clients. The Legal 500 has noted Rahman Ravelli’s expertise in advising on DPAs and recognised that Syed “goes the extra mile to get the best results for his clients in leading on a multi-jurisdictional matter concerning this area”.

His recent work has involved global energy sector corruption allegations, major financial services cases, fintech companies and many of the most complex worldwide asset recovery cases.

Peter is an experienced lawyer and adviser. With over two decades’ experience in resolving complex disputes and advising on white-collar crime matters, Peter is also frequently asked to advise on non-conentious matters. Peter also provides assistance for projects in a number of sectors across Africa.

After graduating from the University of Cambridge, Peter trained at the Bar. In 2000, he commenced his practicing career at LeBoeuf Lamb (later Dewey & LeBoeuf) in the City of London. In 2010 Peter moved to Dubai, where he headed up the regional disputes departments at two international firms, before establishing Kingsgrove Partners in 2015. Seeking to combine deep regional knowledge with an international mindset and provide clients with exceptional UAE legal services, he established ADG with Mohammed Al Dahbashi in 2017.

Much of Peter’s career has been focused on the Middle East and Africa. Whilst a firm believer in using the latest technology to improve processes and communication, Peter recognises that personal relationships are the foundation of business in the region. As such, Peter spends a great deal of time traveling throughout the Middle East and Africa to help clients achieve their goals. Always seeking innovative and proactive solutions for clients, Peter has a reputation for taking the time to understand his clients’ businesses and for being “commercially minded and cost sensitive”.

Peter has served on various committees, including the DIFC Courts Users Committee, Dubai Conservatives (Chairman), CIArb YMG Committee and the British-ChinaLaw Association. He is a long-standing committee member of the Oxford and Cambridge Society in the UAE. He has been published in leading journals and is often a keynote speaker at international conferences (including C5 and the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime).

In 2012, Peter helped found the HTC Advice Clinic in Dubai, a free service providing legal, careers and other advice. Together with Mohammed Al Dahbashi, he ensures that ADG remains committed to pro bono work. 

Mikhail is a partner at the dispute resolution boutique Cooke, Young & Keidan LLP. His expertise includes financial sanctions and disputes arising out of financial sanctions. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrations and has conducted arbitrations under the major arbitral institutions and rules, including LCIA, ICC, SCC and UNCITRAL, as well as commodities arbitrations, including under the FOSFA rules. Mikhail regularly acts in disputes concerning assets in or clients from the emerging markets, and disputes arising from legal restrictions. In addition to arbitration, Mikhail’s practice includes financial sanctions. He has extensive experience of disputes arising out of financial sanctions and advising on contracts impacted by financial sanctions. Mikhail’s experience also includes challenging an OFSI fine in a ministerial review and obtaining sanctions authorisations from the relevant authorities. 

Michael is a specialist in the defence of corporate and financial crime and regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has represented senior executives and other professionals in many high-profile domestic and international investigations and prosecutions conducted by the SFO, FCA, NCA and other prosecution/regulatory agencies.

Michael is a specialist in the defence of corporate and financial crime and regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has represented senior executives and other professionals in many high-profile domestic and international investigations and prosecutions conducted by the SFO, FCA, NCA and other prosecution/regulatory agencies.

Adept at navigating the overlap between jurisdictions, Michael regularly advises in international cases that involve overseas prosecutors/regulators and has managed and coordinated responses in each jurisdiction on numerous occasions.

Michael regularly advises and represents senior financial services personnel facing FCA/PRA and other regulator investigations and disciplinary action. He also advises and represents high-net-worth individuals facing revenue investigations and potential prosecutions.

Michael has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial and trade sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries, including Russia, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria. His most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and the Minister for External Relations and Financial Services (Jersey), including challenging the ‘designated’ status of a number of high-profile Russian Oligarchs, and advising various Russian companies in a range of industry sectors on potential exposures arising from the evolving EU, US and UK sanctions regime

In addition, he advises both companies and professional firms on their anti-money laundering compliance. Michael is a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Criminal and Civil Proceedings).

Syed's great depth of experience in serious fraud, financial crime and multi-jurisdictional investigations has earmarked him as a robust solicitor. He is proficient in both civil and criminal cases, where there is an allegation of corporate wrongdoing. Syed has substantial experience in advising corporate entities and their directors and officers in relation to investigations conducted by all the major enforcement agencies. He has also built an impressive reputation in the field of asset-tracing and recovery, with a respected track record regarding international disputes where urgent relief is required involving freezing orders and recovering misappropriated assets.

Syed is recognised for his sector-leading, pioneering cryptocurrency work, having secured a number of significant legal firsts when representing institutions and individuals. His specialist expertise in civil recovery proceedings under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has also led to him recording notable successes for clients in national and international cases.

Syed has a dynamic practice involving complex sanctions issues and related litigation. He has notable cases in this area, including representation of public limited companies (PLC’s) trading on the London Stock Exchange in relation to international sanctions on Russia, public joint-stock companies (PJSC’s) trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange regarding UK and EU sanctions on Russia and a major Russian power engineering company headquartered in St Petersburg relating to international sanctions advice. Syed regularly prepares licence applications to release frozen funds or economic resources for designated persons and entities. He is also adept at challenging sanctions designations.

He is known for his abilities in multijurisdictional, worldwide asset recovery cases – including obtaining and defending the full range of injunctions - high-stakes commercial and financial disputes and cross-border investigations involving attacks on clients’ interests by numerous governments or agencies. His skill in defending high-profile corruption, fraud and regulatory allegations and his ability to negotiate with investigators have ensured his clients receive the strongest representation.

The Chambers UK Guide regularly ranks Syed as an elite solicitor. It has called him “a very technically gifted lawyer’’ and has said he “gets on top of all the facts in complex cases’’. Chambers has described him as “very committed to the work he does’’ and said he “leaves no stone unturned and has a passion for what he does’’. It has repeatedly highlighted his expertise in POCA work and asset recovery proceedings. The 2023 edition of Chambers praises his ability to “forge ground in fast-developing areas’’ and his cryptocurrency case skills.

Syed’s clients include corporates and their directors, financial institutions, hedge funds, high net worth individuals and international private clients around the world. Syed has a particular interest in litigation arising from mergers and acquisitions, derivatives and securities offerings (IPO’s, SPAC IPO’s and debt offerings) and works with private equity funds and private sponsors for public companies.

He is adept at advising corporate entities and their directors and officers on their regulatory and compliance obligations and in investigations conducted by agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs. His ability to assess complex issues, establish the facts and analyse challenging sets of circumstances have seen him excel on internal investigations carried out for Rahman Ravelli’s corporate clients.

Syed routinely advises clients in FCA investigations into alleged market abuse, breaches of regulated activities and unauthorised trading. He is sought by asset management firms and chief investment officers at hedge funds facing enforcement proceedings and financial services litigation.

The Legal 500 has called Syed “a creative thinker’’, “a master of detail’’ and someone who “entirely devotes himself to his cases’’. It has drawn attention to the wide variety of global corporate wrongdoing and multi-jurisdictional bribery and corruption investigations he has worked on. It has praised his “incredible depth of experience when it comes to fraud matters, and in particular those with an international element or where the National Crime Agency are involved.’’ The 2023 edition calls him “one of the most well-respected names’’ in the legal world and emphasises his abilities in emerging areas such as SPACs and cryptocurrency fraud.

Syed is also in demand to work on cases where there is the possibility of securing a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) for clients. The Legal 500 has noted Rahman Ravelli’s expertise in advising on DPAs and recognised that Syed “goes the extra mile to get the best results for his clients in leading on a multi-jurisdictional matter concerning this area”.

His recent work has involved global energy sector corruption allegations, major financial services cases, fintech companies and many of the most complex worldwide asset recovery cases.

Andrea Puccio is a criminal lawyer specialized in white-collar crime and business crime. He has significant experience in the area of white-collar crime, in which he provides both judicial and non-judicial legal assistance for domestic and international clients. He has participated in relevant criminal proceedings in this field, acting as lawyer of Italian and multinational companies, as well as individuals. He is Officer in the Criminal Law Committee of the IBA – International Bar Association. He is a member of the ECBA - European Criminal Bar Association.

David Davies KC is an experienced advocate who has represented clients in some of the most high-profile and high-value fraud and international arbitration cases in London in recent years. He has been described in the legal directories as “a Rolls Royce technical lawyer”, “a man of real talent and real insight”, a “brilliant practitioner” and a “fine lawyer”. David has considerable experience working with large teams of solicitors, foreign lawyers and experts and is known for his “soft people skills” and has been described as a “pleasure to work with” and “very popular with clients”.

Sam Amir Toossi is a partner in Akrivis Law Group’s New York office and heads the firm’s White Collar Defense and Commercial Litigation practice.  Mr. Toossi has nearly 20 years of litigation experience as a commercial litigator, a state and federal prosecutor, and an in-house attorney at a major company. 

Kian Meshkat is the Principal Attorney of Meshkat Law, P.C., with more than a decade of experience representing clients all over the world and across numerous industries, in matters involving economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and export controls administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”). This includes providing routine compliance advice, regulatory licensing, internal investigations, self-disclosures, enforcement actions, and delisting matters. He regularly advises clients on U.S. economic sanctions implications for transactions and legal disputes involving sanctioned targets. Kian previously served as a subject matter expert to the court-appointed monitor for the largest monitorship in U.S. history related to sanctions and export controls violations. As an advocate, he has a track record of success representing clients before OFAC and BIS. Kian has been featured in various media outlets and prestigious publications.

Neil Dooley represents clients on complex cross-border fraud claims, most notably with an eastern European/CIS element, and has a proven track record of delivering results, obtaining freezing orders, and finding commercial solutions. In particular, he has litigated many fraud claims including those in the financial services, insurance, pharmaceutical, and property industries. Neil frequently works with foreign lawyers and law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Stacy specialises in financial crime and has extensive experience advising on enforcement, investigations and compliance, covering trade and financial sanctions, export controls, bribery and money laundering. She advises on all aspects of EU and UK sanctions and is also familiar with the application of US sanctions.

Emile practises in commercial litigation and arbitration, and in tax litigation. He is frequently instructed in matters involving banking and financial services, civil fraud, sanctions, international law, and general commercial disputes. Much of his work involves offshore structures, and in particular offshore trusts.

He also maintains a significant advisory practice in these areas, and has extensive experience in advising on sanctions, private client tax, and financial services regulation.

Emile also practises in public law and human rights, and has been appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel. His public law work often overlaps with his other areas of practice, such as international law, sanctions, and financial services regulation.

He accepts instructions in professional negligence matters, in particular those involving tax or corporate structuring issues.

Emile was shortlisted by Legal 500 as “International Law Junior of the Year 2024”; and he is ranked by Legal 500 as a “Rising Star – Personal Tax”.

Arozo is an Associate with experience in white collar crime investigations involving bribery and corruption, fraud, money laundering investigations led by the SFO, HM Revenue and Customs, the NCA and contentious regulatory matters, representing senior financial services personnel in investigations led by the FCA, PRA and the London Stock Exchange.

Peter Caldwell specialises in cases of financial misconduct and extradition.

He advises and represents individuals and businesses in international investigations of bribery, money laundering and sanctions compliance.  Peter is head of Doughty Street International’s Sanctions Team.

Peter is ranked by Legal 500 and Chambers UK as a leading barrister, (Band 1), in international crime and extradition and criminal fraud.

Elena Fedorova specializes in civil fraud/asset recovery, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and foreign judgments, complex cross-border civil matters, and criminal proceedings. Elena often intervenes in cases involving former Soviet Union countries. At Bonifassi Avocats, which she joined in 2014, Elena represents BTA Bank of Kazakhstan as a civil party in the criminal investigation against Mukhtar Ablyazov, who is accused of defrauding the bank of $7.5 billion in one of the largest known frauds ever perpetrated. Elena also counsels the English trustees of Boris Berezovsky’s estate to recover assets he beneficially owned in France. She handled the recognition in France of a $200 million US judgment involving a bad bank, and civil fraud litigation for asset recovery involving complex corporate structures in offshore jurisdictions. Elena successfully defended a $50 million arbitral award in setting-aside proceedings with fraud allegations. She often obtains evidence in France for domestic and foreign civil proceedings. She contributed to several complex actions to recognize and enforce foreign judgments, including many against sovereign entities, along with related asset recovery.

Since her appointment as Queen’s Counsel in 2015, Annabel has consistently been recognised as a Leading Silk in Crime by both the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Annabel has been shortlisted for the 2023 Legal 500 Crime & Extradition silk of the year. An outstanding advocate and consummate tactician, she has acted in numerous high-profile cases, many of extreme complexity. Her practice has a particular emphasis on fraud, multi-handed homicide and terrorism. Annabel was authorised to sit as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division in 2022.

Guy Martin is the Head of International law at Carter-Ruck and specialise in complex litigation in the courts of England, the Courts of the EU, before the UN Ombudsperson and other international tribunals.

He has extensive experience representing clients in challenges to sanctions measures, both at the domestic and international level and also has notable expertise in challenging freezing measures and targeted sanctions against individuals. His work is at the forefront of the field of challenges to asset freezing measures, or ‘targeted sanctions’. He is ranked as a Band 1 Sanctions Law expert by Chambers & Partners and as a Leading Individual in The Legal 500.

Saima Hanif KC is an expert in sanctions law involving the banking and the FS sector. She has acted for some of the largest financial institutions and is instructed by City law firms. Her work is cross-border, and she has represented clients in the Middle East, the British Overseas Territories and Europe, in disputes relating to the Iranian, Russian and Libyan sanction regimes. She is currently instructed as a legal expert witness on UK sanctions law, in four different Russian matters. In 2022, Saima was named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list, recognising stand-out excellence in the legal profession.

Adrian practises across a number of areas and is very highly regarded both as a lawyer and as a trial advocate. His practice areas include financial and business crime, bribery, general crime, privacy and confidentiality, sanctions and judicial review.

Nin is a Group Partner in the Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey. She is a well established dispute resolution practitioner with a loyal client base comprising finance services businesses and those from other regulated sectors, spanning risk and regulatory, corporate disputes and contentious trust matters many of which have multi-jurisdictional/international elements.

She leads the cross-departmental risk and regulatory team to deliver a seamless offering to clients with complex and varied needs. Nin works closely with the Jersey based risk and regulatory team to ensure that clients with a presence across the Channel Islands are able to receive a blended Channel Islands service.

Nin is known for her work in regulatory compliance and enforcement, financial crime, risk and governance. Clients rely on her skills, experience, calm manner and technical expertise to provide advice and guidance on complex legal matters with high risk factors and potentially devastating outcomes. She is trusted by her clients to provide accurate, commercial and time sensitive advice.

Nin has a strong sanctions practice that extends across transactional, advisory and contentious matters and is an expert in this legally complex and important developing area of practice. Nin has an established international network where clients require cross-jurisdictional sanctions advice.

Nin leads, and regularly presents at, an industry Risk and Regulatory forum created for leading individuals from a cross section of the finance sector to share information from a commercial and legal perspective. The event was praised by one client as 'one of the most useful and progressive initiatives in the industry.' She regularly speaks at local conferences, and writes, on regulatory matters.

Matthew Happold is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Luxembourg and a barrister at 3 Hare Court London. He has been counsel in cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, the Caribbean Court of Human Rights and in ICSID arbitration. Between 2014 and 2022 , he was a member of the Luxembourg Commission Consultative des Droits de l’Homme (Luxembourg’s national human rights institution), and since 2018 he has sat as a recorder on the North Eastern Circuit, sitting in civil and criminal cases.

Matthew has a particular interest in economic sanctions. His publications include  ‘Economic Sanctions and International Law’ (Hart: 2018) (co-editor with Paul Eden), and he is currently writing a monograph on economic sanctions in international law in the light of States’ responses to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Leslie Stubbs is an International Sanctions Officer with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). She is on secondment to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. Before coming to London, she was a Senior Sanctions Policy Advisor and Enforcement Officer with OFAC.

Andrew Good represents corporations and individuals in U.S. and cross-border criminal and regulatory investigations, including those brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He also has conducted numerous internal investigations.

Sam and his team lead OFSI’s engagement work with the private sector, working closely with industry partners to ensure the effective and robust implementation of financial sanctions both in the UK and across the world. Prior to joining HM Treasury, Sam worked as a vice president at Barclays, as a senior associate in the FCA’s international strategy team, and as an adviser at UK Finance specialising in capital markets and post-trade infrastructure.

Timothy P. O'Toole has been conducting and leading large-scale defense investigations for over 20 years. Although Mr. O'Toole has substantial experience in all areas of white collar practice, his main focus is on defending enforcement actions and conducting investigations involving the economic sanctions, export controls, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering laws. His clients run the gamut, including U.S. and non-U.S. financial institutions and public companies in the aviation, insurance, logistics, manufacturing, oil and gas, and telecommunications sectors. Recognized as one of the leading international trade lawyers in the U.S. by Chambers USA, Legal 500, Who's Who Legal, and Global Investigations Review, Mr. O'Toole represents companies and individuals at all stages of the process, including defending enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). He also provides companies and individuals with advice on compliance with the U.S. economic sanctions, export controls, cybersecurity, and anti-money laundering laws, and interacts regularly with DOJ, OFAC, DDTC, and BIS in that capacity. Mr. O'Toole has substantial experience dealing with criminal and civil regulators, and extensive courtroom experience before judges and juries, having appeared in state and federal courts hundreds of times in a variety of civil and criminal proceedings.