Two recent and significant cryptocurrency fraud cases in the UK illustrate the impact of individual judgements on the relatively small body of cryptocurrency case law.

With crypto accounting for the wealth of 17 billionaires in 2024, and cryptocurrency revenue expected to exceed US$3 trillion by 2026, it might be easy to think that the biggest problem for crypto owners is deciding how to spend their fortunes.

We at ThoughtLeaders4 are serious about providing opportunities to up-and-coming practitioners specialising in Asset Recovery, Fraud, Insolvency and Enforcement. We strongly believe that the next generation of practitioners should write, speak and attend events to build networks and further their careers. With this in mind, we proudly present the 4th Edition of our Future Thought Leaders Essay Competition.  

Assessed by an illustriously experienced, senior and broad-ranging panel of practitioners this is your chance to stick your head above the parapet and mark yourself as the one to watch. With the opportunity to attend and present your essay at our FIRE Starters Global Summit: Dublin as well as attend our FIRE International: Vilamoura 2025 event in Portugal, we look forward to your submissions and welcoming you to the FIRE Starters community. 

The legal landscape around Authorised Push Payment (“APP”) fraud has seen significant developments, particularly through landmark cases such as IFT SAL Offshore v Barclays Bank plc [2020] EWHC 3125 (Comm), Tecnimont Arabia Limited v National Westminster Bank plc [2022] EWHC 1172 (Comm), Terna Energy Trading DOO v Revolut Ltd [2024] EWHC 1419 (Comm), Larsson v Revolut Ltd [2024] EWHC 1287 (Ch), and CCP Graduate School Ltd v National Westminster Bank Plc [2024] EWHC 581 (KB).

For those of us who have suffered from five long months of cold and wet weather the chance to escape to the south of Portugal was not to be missed.

A class action lawsuit has been brought in a federal court in California against the auction house Sotheby’s over the auctioning of Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Syed Rahman outlines the questions that require answers regarding decentralised autonomous organisations.

The metaverse and Web3 have been the buzzwords to drop lately. And decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) can be viewed in a similar light.

Yet what needs to be emphasised about DAOs is that they are currently in a legal grey area, as they do not relate to something similar that has previously been defined.

We at ThoughtLeaders4 are serious about providing opportunities to up-and-coming practitioners specialising in Asset Recovery, Fraud, Insolvency and Enforcement. We strongly believe that the next generation of practitioners should be writing, speaking at and attending events in order to build their network and further their careers. With this in mind, we are proud to present the 3rd Edition of our Future Thought Leaders Essay Competition.

Assessed by an illustriously experienced, senior and broad-ranging panel of practitioners this is your chance to stick your head above the parapet and mark yourself as the one to-watch. With the opportunity to attend and speak at the FIRE Starters Global Summit: Dublin as well as attend the FIRE International: Vilamoura event in Portugal, we look forward to your submissions and to welcoming you to the FIRE Starters community.

This Friday, on the 5^th of May, about 480 of the 3,000 or so aspiring barristers in England and Wales will receive offers for pupillage. With awards of up to £100,000, competition is fierce. The Bar Council’s Pupillage Gateway Report shows that the number of applicants peaked in 2020/21 and it appears to be on the rise again. In 2022/23, there were 2,782 applicants using the Gateway with an average of 11.9 applications per applicant. This gives first timers (on average) a 1 in 10 chance of success.

In February, HM Treasury published the ‘Future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets consultation and call for evidence’ paper. In it are some intriguing indications of how cryptocurrency venues, brokers, and intermediaries are going to be dealt with in the UK. The paper sets out the next (but not final) phase of the government’s approach to regulating cryptoassets.

What is most important to note from the outset is that this paper deals with a very small part of the government’s approach. Nevertheless, an overview offers insight into where we are headed and is useful in understanding the government’s rather weighty regulatory approach, to ascertain what this might mean to banks, businesses, and investors, both in and outside of the UK.

"The ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE Starters Global Summit in Dublin is a fantastic opportunity to connect with professionals with a similar level of experience across the fraud, insolvency and asset recovery space."

The Charles Russell Speechlys team reflect on the FIRE Starters Global Summit 2023 in Dublin and their experience of the conference.

Following the success of our Crypto in Disputes event which took place on the 29th June TL4 are proud to present our Crypto Insights Document 2022. In this new format of curated content, we look to partner with firms to provide in-depth Insights, Reports, Surveys, Journals and more. If you would like to work with us on a future insight or report please do get in touch.

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. The Thought Leaders 4 Women Who Inspire features a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change. 

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. The Thought Leaders 4 Women Who Inspire features a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change. 

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. The Thought Leaders 4 Women Who Inspire features a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change. 

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. The Thought Leaders 4 Women Who Inspire features a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change. 

Good craic, towering cultural heritage, and the wandering ghost of sweet Molly Malone - Dublin is a city of legendary charms.

It should come as no surprise therefore that the launch of the FIRE Starters Global Summit to Ireland’s capital after two years of Covid misery was a hotly anticipated event in the conference calendar.

There was a distinct air of positivity and delight to be out and about networking again at the FIRE Starters Global Summit in Dublin. Once again the event was well attended by a wonderful and dynamic group of international professionals from across the advisory spectrum in asset recovery, fraud and insolvency and many new networks were forged over the fun three-day event.

With a team of four attending from its Guernsey, Jersey and Cayman Islands offices, Ogier has written a short overview of some of the sessions they attended. Every session was engaging and informative, and the speakers and practical insights into the industry continue to be of the highest standard.

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. Today we launch our ThoughtLadies that inspire campaign featuring a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change.

Ever since the Privy Council’s landmark decision in Investec v Glenalla1 in April 2018, there have been various attempts to use the arguments raised in that case in England, on both sides of the issue (being in the main whether a trust’s creditors could enforce their claims against the trust’s assets directly, or had to rely on pursuing the trustees and the trustees’ right of indemnity from the trust assets in turn).

January of 2021 saw a particularly ambitious attempt to use the Investec authority to the advantage of the trustees of a family will trust, endeavouring (as they were) to avoid several millions of pounds of liability to a (purportedly) secured lender.

In Williams v Simm2 the Court was asked to look afresh at the Privy Council’s decision in Investec as it applied to a notionally simple domestic will trust.

As this piece is being written, cases of infections with COVID-19 are surging (once again) all across Europe. Although we hoped that the virus would be left behind together with the year 2020, COVID has not loosened its grip over everyday life and also continues to affect judicial and administrative processes in Liechtenstein. Consequently, the Liechtenstein government has recognized the necessity to extend ancillary administrative measures (nearly) throughout the current year (until 30 September).

Onshore or offshore, whatever your industry, ESG factors are here to stay - that was the emerging theme of a series of workshops we ran on sustainability issues within fraud and insolvency at September’s FIRE Summit for fraud and insolvency practitioners.

That’s not to say that the future, or even the exact nature, of ESG and sustainability in business are mapped out. In the series of sessions that we held the practitioners agreed that the nebulous scope of the topic made it hard to define the nature of the issues, particularly given the varied possibilities for focus on the ‘E’ (Environmental), the ‘S’ (Social) or the ‘G’ (Governance).

On 4 October 2021, an enlarged seven-member Board of the Privy Council handed down a majority judgment (4:3) in the case of Convoy Collateral Ltd v Broad Idea International Ltd.1 It confirmed that the British Virgin Islands’ (“BVI”) court has jurisdiction to grant an injunction against a non-cause of action defendant based in the BVI in support of foreign proceedings.

However, the significance of the decision has more far-reaching consequences. This was not lost on Sir Geoffrey Vos who, in giving the minority judgment, described the decision of the majority as a “ground-breaking exposition of the law of injunctions” 2and an attempt at providing a “juridical foundation for the entire law of freezing and interlocutory injunctions” 3.

With the commercial property market being crippled by the effects of the pandemic, coupled with the pre-pandemic pressures already facing retailers, ‘landlord only’ CVAs have become (and look set to continue to be) an increasingly popular method of restructuring distressed retail businesses. Conjunctively, impaired landlords have galvanised to challenge such CVAs.

In this article we explore the three high-profile retail tenant cases of 2021, providing long-awaited guidance on the legality and fairness of their use by distressed retailers.

In response to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government rapidly introduced several large-scale schemes to support vulnerable businesses. Two of the most utilised government support measures were the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (‘BBLS’). Whilst these measures have provided a lifeline for many businesses, they have also facilitated an increase in fraudulent activity. This is evidenced by a reported 24% rise in fraud during the pandemic.1 Now that these measures have ended, what are the government proposals for how to hold those involved in the fraudulent exploitation of these schemes accountable?

The past 12 months have seen matters come to a head on a number of issues in relation to Cum-Ex.

Putting it in the most straightforward of terms, Cum-Ex describes the trading strategies (also known as arbitrage) that were used to obtain dividend withholding tax refunds on dividend payments. Shares were traded rapidly with (“cum”) and without (“ex”) dividend rights, so that the identity of the actual owner was concealed. An agreement would be made to sell a company stock before the dividend was paid out, but it was not delivered until after the dividend had been paid. This enabled both parties to claim tax rebates, even though that tax had only been paid once, at most. Huge volumes of rapid trading between various parties gave the impression of numerous owners, creating large profits from tax rebate claims. Losses to European treasuries attributed to Cum-Ex are, according to the most recent research, estimated to be approximately €150 billion.

But while the use of Cum-Ex was uncovered by German authorities in 2012, investigations have only gathered pace in recent years. And 2021 has been, arguably, the most significant year in terms of those investigations.

There has been more heat than light in the area of freezing injunctions in the British Virgin Islands (the “BVI”), in particular in recent years so it comes as a welcome relief that the Privy Council have cast a cold eye over the law in Broad Idea International Ltd v Convoy Collateral Ltd [2021] UKPC 24 (the “Judgment”). The Judgment is, as recognised by his Lordship Sir Geoffrey Vos, “ground-breaking” (para. 221).

Although the Judgment provides definitive clarity in relation to some points of uncertainty in the BVI not all of the same points arise in relation to other Caribbean jurisdictions, such as the Cayman Islands. Nevertheless, their Lordships’ statement in the Judgment as to the purpose and scope of interim relief will undoubtedly be useful and relied upon for its general statement that the court is able to modify existing practices to provide effective remedies in changing circumstances, and its more specific, purposive, approach to the use of freezing injunctions.

The background to the Judgment is as follows: the claimant (appellant), Convoy Collateral Limited, sought a freezing injunction in the BVI in support of ongoing proceedings in Hong Kong against the defendant (second respondent), Mr Cho. The Hong Kong proceedings were capable of resulting in a judgment for damages equivalent to US$92 million. A freezing injunction was sought against both Broad Idea International Limited (“Broad Idea”) (the first respondent), a BVI company in which Mr Cho held a 50.1% stake, and Mr Cho personally. Whilst Broad Idea was a company incorporated in the BVI, Mr Cho was habitually resident in Hong Kong.

If 2020 was the wake-up call that thrust the ESG movement into mainstream society’s consciousness, then 2021 was the year in which it came to dominate the corporate and regulatory agenda in the UK and much of Europe. This has significantly increased pressures on ESG targets and results, which will inevitably lead to a greater risk of fraud.

The conventional wisdom when faced with a fraud claim is that the claim will not be subject to early termination whether by way of strike out or of summary judgment in the Claimant’s favour. The nature of fraud claims, involving serious factual findings against the Defendant make them generally inappropriate for summary determination. However, a number of decisions over the past year should serve to remind parties that even when faced with a fraud case, summary judgment and strike out are available to both Claimants and Defendants and in the appropriate case where claims or defences are inadequately pleaded or where the evidence is overwhelming, the court will be willing to bring the litigation to an early close.

In the Crown Prosecution Service v Aquila [2021] UKSC 49, the Supreme Court considered whether a company could assert its rights under a constructive trust in the face of confiscation orders obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service (“CPS”) over the proceeds of crime.

The anonymity offered by the cryptocurrency market may soon be no more, and it may not be long before regulators are knocking at your door. In addition to the DOJ and the SEC, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have made it clear that they are increasingly focused on cryptocurrency entities and efforts to facilitate or enable tax evasion.

In this article, Anthony Riem and Andrew McLeod, Senior Partner and Associate at the London firm of PCB Byrne LLP, review the recent litigation in the judgment of Mrs Justice Knowles in the Family Division of the High Court in Akhmedova v Akhmedov 2021 EWHC 545, [2021] 4 WLR 88 (Fam), and the lessons that can be learned about dealing with a recalcitrant defendant in civil fraud proceedings. Such defendants seek to ignore their obligations to the Court or even actively frustrate the Court’s orders and processes. That type of litigation conduct might be seen in the short term to have benefits, in disrupting or even derailing claims against them. Yet the various powers of the English court to grant interim remedies enable it to interrogate a defendant’s claims and if necessary find other methods to compel a defendant to comply with their obligations. These present not only the ability to counteract a defendants’ efforts to defeat the court’s processes, but the opportunity to convert that litigation conduct into a successful outcome at trial.

The Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Singularis1, the first in which a breach of Quincecare duty2 was found, brought about a rejuvenated appetite for a duty that had lain relatively dormant for decades. This year’s cases have further tested the limits and application of the duty.

This year has seen a number of cases in which the courts have had to grapple with novel issues arising in fraud disputes. This article explores three trends to have emerged: (1) limits to the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) extraterritorial reach; (2) the interaction between criminal restraint orders (CROs) and worldwide freezing orders (WFOs); and (3) the, perhaps unsurprising, continuing rise in cases involving cryptocurrency and crypto fraud.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t in this profession?

A: My answer to this question has shifted each decade I have spent in the profession. My boyhood dream was to be a Formula 1 motor racing driver. Sadly I had neither the talent nor the funding to be able to achieve that. Nowadays, I could picture myself in the Italian mountains. I’d be in the Sella Ronda, running a small family cycle/ski hotel. In the summer, I would spend my days on a bike guiding guests through spectacular mountain passes and climbs, and during the winter, I would do the same, but on skis.

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t in this profession?

A: I started my career in international development and would have probably continued on that path had I not come across investigations. At the time, I was also considering applying to the Portuguese Foreign Ministry to pursue a career as a diplomat. But I think I would make a decent child’s party planner. I am creative and visual by nature and have a blast conceptualizing my kids’ ideas for their special day. I also do make a mean margarita so maybe an adjacent tequila bar to my party planning studio could be on the cards.

Q: What would you be doing if youweren’t in this profession?

A: I am completely obsessed with maps so were I not a lawyer, I think I would have been involvedin cartography in some way. Either that or a weather woman. I’m always hoping for a map related fraud case...but I think I might be waiting for some time!

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t in this profession?

A: In some ways, it would be easier to say what I would not have been. Before becoming a lawyer, I worked in banking and insurance but they did not grab my attention. I think I would either have been a historian as I am fascinated by the past – a good job at my age! – and our continual failure to learn from mistakes that have been repeatedly made during the course of history or, dare I say it, a politician. However, I think any political career would have been short-lived as it appears that strategic thinking and an ability to actually answer questions are traits that do not sit comfortably with being a successful politician.

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As we draw to the end of another fantastic year in FIRE, we are pleased to publish the final FIRE Magazine for 2024, our ‘Year in Review’ edition. Inside Issue 19, our authors tackle a variety of topics that have been prominent this year, including reducing the odds of fraud in online gambling, misfeasant trading, and case updates. This issue also features a Women in FIRE supplement, where we feature a series of 60 Seconds With interviews alongside further insightful content, all curated by just some of our incredible Women in FIRE. We extend our deepest gratitude to all Corporate Partners and contributors whose expertise and commitment have been instrumental in shaping all the issues for 2024. Your valuable insights and knowledge sharing have enriched the pages of the FIRE magazine. We look forward to bringing you more in 2025.

We are well and truly back from the summer break, so with that we are delighted to present Issue 18 of FIRE Magazine, our 'Contentious Insolvency’ edition for 2024. Alongside a series of 60 seconds With interviews spotlighting some of our FIRE partners, we hear from a number of authors discussing what is going on in their jurisdiction, from the UK to Germany, Japan and more. Our contributors provide a number of relevant updates including the recent BHS case Wright v Chappell [2024] EWHC 1417 (Ch), and other topics discussing insolvency, litigation funding agreements, enforcement and more. This issue also features a FIRE Side Chat with James Pirie of Grant Thornton (Channel Islands) and Amita Chohan of Locke Lord. 

Thank you to our partners, contributors and members for their support, we look forward to staying in touch as we delve into a busy Q4 for all FIRE practitioners.

Looking for a prima on crypto tracing or just an update on the current legal issues? Our upcoming webinar 'How to Track and Recover Cryptocurrency’ has you covered on both fronts. 

We are delighted to present Issue 17 of the FIRE magazine in conjunction with the flagship Asset Recovery event for 2024, FIRE International in Vilamoura, Portugal. In this FIRE International edition, our authors dive into all the pertinent issues facing practitioners, including the evolving insolvency regimes in the Middle East, the UK’s first sanctions strategy and a special FIRE Americas supplement by Collas Crill including 60-second interviews and articles surrounding asset recovery in the Cayman Islands, with contribution from Twenty Essex.

Our first issue of 2024 is here, and we are delighted to present the FIRE Starters Edition, in conjunction with the FIRE Starters Global Summit that recently took place in Dublin. In this engaging edition, our practitioners explore the effects of asset fraud, sanctions, expert evidence, and lessons from recent cases.

Our issue features a series of 60 seconds with interviews, where our FIRE Starters community give us an insight into some of their thoughts around and beyond work. As we prepare ourselves for another busy year in the FIRE community, we thank all of our partners, contributors and members for their support. We look forward to seeing many of you throughout the course of 2024!

For the third edition of the FIRE Starters essay competition, Entrants were tasked with answering the question, ‘Can the FIRE practitioner be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI): Your opinion on how AI could shape the future of law.’ Congratulations to our winner, Rupert Black of Burford Capital for his article examining AI and the FIRE practitioner through the lens of Generative AI and Law: Disruption, Adoptive and Equalisation. Congratulations are also extended to our two runners up, Matthew Harders from KSG in second place, and Christopher Tan from Carey Olsen in third place.

As we draw to the end of another fantastic year, we are pleased to publish the final FIRE Magazine for 2023, our ‘Year in Review’ edition. Inside Issue 15, our authors tackle a variety of topics that have been prominent this year, including the use of AI in asset recovery, the tightening of Court’s control of office-holders, and of course the year of Barbie! This issue also features a Women in FIRE Supplement, where we feature a series of 60 seconds with interviews alongside further insightful content, all curated by just some of our incredible Women in FIRE.

We extend our deepest gratitude to all our Community Partners and contributors whose expertise and commitment have been instrumental in shaping all the issues for 2023. Your valuable insights and knowledge sharing have enriched the pages of the FIRE Magazine. We look forward to bringing you more in 2024.

We are well and truly back from the summer break, so with that we are delighted to present Issue 14 of FIRE Magazine, our ‘Contentious Insolvency’ edition for 2023. Alongside a series of 60 seconds with interviews with some of our community partners, we hear from a number of authors discussing what is going on in their jurisdiction, from the UK to Singapore, BVI, Hong Kong, Switzerland and more. Our contributors provide a number of relevant updates including recent cases such as Stephen Hunt v Jagtar Singh and Re Lam Kwok Hung Guy, and other topics discussing crypto, litigation funding agreements, enforcement and more. This issue also features the winning essay for the International Law Book Facility (ILBF) essay competition, with a foreword from our community partner, and trustee of the ILBF, Jane Colston of Brown Rudnick.

Thank you to our community partners, contributors and members for their support, we look forward to staying in touch as we delve into a busy Q4 for all FIRE practitioners.

We are delighted to present Issue 13 of FIRE Magazine in conjunction with the flagship Asset Recovery event for 2023, FIRE International in Vilamoura, Portugal.

In this FIRE International edition, our authors dive into all the topical issues facing our practitioners, including the consequences of the war in Ukraine, tales from our investigators, the latest on crypto, and more.

For those in Vilamoura, we look forward to bringing together the FIRE community, and for those unable to join us, we hope you enjoy this thought-provoking issue. Thank you to all of our partners, authors and members for their ongoing support to this ever-growing community.

Our first issue of 2023 is here, and we are thrilled to present the FIRE Starters Edition 2023, in conjunction with the FIRE Starters Global Summit that recently took place in Dublin. In this topical edition, our practitioners delve into the domino effect of Crypto collapses, sanctions, APP fraud, and lessons from recent cases. Our issue also features a series of 60 seconds with interviews, where our FIRE Starters community give us insight into some of their thoughts around and beyond work.

As we gear up for another busy year in the FIRE community, we thank all of our partners, contributors and members for their support. We look forward to seeing many of you throughout the course of 2023!

For the second edition of the FIRE Starters essay competiiton, entrnats were asked “Imagine it is the year 2033, what types of cases will the FIRE practitioner of the future be working on?” We are delighted to have received entries from a multitude of
jurisdictions, showing our true commitment of bringing the global asset recovery community together. Congratulations to Joseph Rome of Sequor Law who was our 2023 winner, along with Arno Duvenhage of MJM Limited Bermuda and Carola Binney of 4 New Square Chambers who came second and third respectively. Thank you to our esteemed judging panel and other entrants for their contribution to this year’s competition.

We are delighted to present the final FIRE issue of 2022, our ‘Year in Review’ edition. Issue 11 features an article with the Female Fraud Forum, who discuss their experiences of business development and networking in the FIRE industry. This issue also covers a variety of topical issues that have faced practitioners over the past year in different jurisdictions, including sanctions, NFT’s and crypto, ESG, and recent cases.

Thank you to our members, contributors and community partners for their continued support in 2022. It has been a busy year for FIRE, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2023!

On 21st August 2022, we welcomed the next generation of FIRE practitioners at the first FIRE Summer School: The Ultimate Insider's Guide, located in the beautiful setting of Downing College, Cambridge.

This Summer School Summary rounds up the event, what our delegates learnt, and why it is so important for the next gen to start building their network from an early stage.

Following the summer break, we are delighted to present Issue 10 of FIRE Magazine, discussing a variety of issues and developments for professionals working in the insolvency field. This edition also presents a feature article from community partner Mourant, where they look at the enforceability of an agreement to negotiate as a matter of both English and Jersey law.

Thank you to our community partners and members for their continued support as we head into Q4. It has been a busy year for the FIRE community, and we look forward to connecting with you at our remaining 2022 events.

Assessed by an illustriously experienced, senior and broad-ranging panel of practitioners this is your chance to stick your head above the parapet and mark yourself as the one-to-watch. With the opportunity to attend and present your essay at our Global FIRE Starters Summit: Dublin as well as attend our FIRE International: Vilamoura event in Portugal we look forward to your submissions and to welcoming you to the FIRE Starters community.  

Jon Felce and Natalie from Cooke, Young and Keidan Todd re-live their FIRE International 2022 experience! 

"The sense of anticipation was palpable. It had taken some time to get there, but the final step in a long journey was about to be taken..."
Featuring everything from Glasgow Rangers football fans, to sunset drinks and dinner by the pool, adventures in the Vilamoura Marina and of course the hot content and fiery speakers. 

Read Now

We are delighted to present Issue 9 of FIRE Magazine in conjunction with the flagship Asset Recovery event for 2022, FIRE International in Vilamoura, Portugal.

In this FIRE International edition, our authors provide insight from the UAE, UK, BVI, Switzerland, India, US, Cyprus and Australia on issues and updates affecting FIRE practitioners. We also hear from some of our speakers at FIRE International in our series of 60 seconds with interviews.

We are also delighted to feature a supplement for the International Law Book Facility Essay Competition where we hear from Jude D’Alesio of Bristol University, the winner of the competition and his insightful essay that earned him an internship at Brown Rudnick.

Thank you to all of our members and community partners for their continued support, we hope you enjoy this abounding FIRE issue.

In this International Women's Month we want to shine a spotlight on a few truly amazing women in our community as they discuss their journey's to leading positions, highlight the challenges they faced in their progression, share their advice with the next generation of female practitioners as well as further action steps to #breakthebias and forge a more inclusive legal world. The Thought Leaders 4 Women Who Inspire features a series of interviews that we will be publishing over the course of the month to celebrate women and champion change. 

We at ThoughtLeaders4 are serious about providing opportunities to up-and-coming practitioners specialising in Asset Recovery, Fraud, Insolvency and Enforcement. We strongly believe that the next generation of practitioners should be writing, speaking and attending events in order to build networks and further their careers.

We are delighted to publish this issue of the FIRE Magazine post FIRE Starters Global Summit, our first Asset Recovery event of 2022. In this edition, we gain insight on all aspects of FIRE from our FIRE Starters community. Our authors discuss a variety of current trends and recent cases, including ESG, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Crypto-fraud. We also hear more from our community in a series of 60 second interviews, including the winner of the Future Thought Leaders Essay Competition, Caitlin Bruce. Thank you to all of our authors for contributing towards the first issue of 2022. It is going to be a busy and exciting year for the FIRE community, and we look forward to connecting with as many of you as possible throughout 2022.

The issue of diversity and inclusion has gained increasing prominence in the media over the course of the last year, spurred on by the outrage felt by many in response to the murders of George Floyd and Sarah Everard, and the myriad accounts of discrimination still experienced in many corners of society. When I explained to my wife that I had proposed to do some extracurricular writing on the subject of diversity she (imperceptibly to outsiders) raised an eyebrow.

2021 has continued to present new challenges due to the global pandemic. Despite this, here at ThoughtLeaders4 we are proud to have brought the FIRE community back together in person. We are delighted to have seen so many of you at our events, from FIRE UK: Welcome Back Summit, to FIRE Middle East. Guest edited by Mary Young, Partner at Kingsley Napley, our Year in Review authors discuss some of the significant cases and trends over the past 12 months.

READ HERE!

We are delighted to publish the 6th issue of the FIRE Magazine post FIRE UK, our first in person Asset Recovery Event of 2021. In this edition our authors focus on all things Contentious Insolvency; looking at recent jurisdictional trends, funding and the use of insolvency tools in Fraud and Asset Recovery proceedings. Additionally, we are diving deeper into our Community and finding out a little bit more about what fires up our members with a series of quickfire 60 Second interviews.

Read Here!

To misquote the lyrics of the great Mungo Jerry – “In the summertime, when the weather is hot, You can stretch right up and touch the sky, When the weather’s right, You got THE FUTURE, You got THE FUTURE on your mind”.

Now that school is out for summer the minds of our contributing authors turn to the future and what this means for the Fraud and Asset Recovery Community. 

Read Here!

After the “unprecedented” year that was 2020, Q1 of 2021 has been fast and furious for both ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE and the Asset Recovery Community. As office doors creak open, wingtips start to hit the pavements and signs of life cautiously return to London, our authors review this quarter with one eye firmly fixed on the future. 

Read Here!

India and Pakistan locked horns with each other and descendants of the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in Pakistan v NatWest decided by Marcus Smith J in October 2019. The issues had first aired in the High Court during the 1950s culminating in the House of Lords decision Rahimtoola v Nizam of Hyderabad [1958].  The claim concerns a fund, frozen since 1948, derived from a £1m transfer from the 7th Nizam to the High Commissioner of Pakistan in London in 1948 as Indian troops crossed into Hyderabad and occupied it. When Pakistan initiated new proceedings in 2013, the current Nizam instructed Eason Rajah QC, 10 Old Square, and Paul Hewitt, Withers LLP. 

At this event Eason and Paul set out the historic and political context as well as the trust law principles debated.

Join us on 24th March to delve into the art of the FIRE practitioner’s response… the bidding starts at 4pm GMT…

Mr Baia is a UHNWI with a personal interest in art but lacking special knowledge about the same, both about technical aspects and about the art market itself. Mr Sella is a reputable player in the art market, usually acting as an agent but also as an art dealer. Mr Sella agrees to sell some art to Mr Baia, however Mr Seller is acting as the undisclosed nominee/agent of Mr Oli Garch, whose wife is on the US sanctions list. Mr Baia pays Mr Sella a substantial deposit in USD, with the rest payable on delivery....

In the first initial coin offering 'ICO' fraud case before the Commercial Court, Ion Science Limited & Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown & Ors, the court granted permission to serve disclosure orders on two cryptocurrency exchanges through which the claimants' stolen bitcoin had been traced, granted a world-wide freezing order against persons unknown, and gave ground-breaking guidance on the lex situs of crypto-assets...

CASE STUDY - ASSET RECOVERY VS. SOVEREIGN STATES: A RORSHACH TEST 
Tuesday, 9 February 2021

ThoughtLeaders4 is pleased to announce that Stevens & Bolton LLP have joined ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE as a key Community Partner.

ThoughtLeaders4 is delighted to announce that Anita Arthur has joined as Director for our new DISPUTES community that will be launching shortly.

Anita brings huge experience within the industry and a strong track record of launching and growing market leading events over the last 15 years within disputes, sanctions, anti-corruption, fraud & asset recovery and private equity, among others.

James has been the commercial lead on many globally renowned Private Client events and forums  and has over 10 years of experience of curating communities across the full spectrum of the Private Client advisory market.

James’s arrival re-unites him with Laura Golding and along with the ThoughtLeaders4 directors, gives over 30 years’ experience within Private Client, and will add continued impetus to an already rapidly growing community.

ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE would like to invite our readers to reflect on the tumultuous year that has been 2020. Guest edited by Mary Young, Partner at Kingsley Napley and chair of our Year in Review event on 4th December 2020, our Year in Review authors asses the hot topics of the year.

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Case study fact pattern for virtual event - 19th November 2020

Under section 184I(2) of the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (Act) the Court may, if it considers that it is just and equitable to do so, order relief that it thinks fit, if the conduct of which the member of a company complains is oppressive, unfairly discriminatory or unfairly prejudicial to that member. For the purpose of section 184I beneficial owners of shares are not members

Case study outine for TL4 Virtual Community X-Over on 19 November 2020 is a unique virtual event bringing together HNW Divorce, FIRE and Private Client experts.

As the Summer of 2020 rolls on, with lockdowns relaxing in some countries and reinstating in others, travel around the world via our FIRE International issue featuring insight from practitioners in Kazakhstan, BVI, Isle of Man, UK, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.

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As part of the recent CIGA, the Government has introduced new provisions into the IA which provide for a new free standing moratorium available to companies, independent of any separate insolvency proceedings.

Judgment creditors are often cursed by asymmetrical information. When it comes time to enforce, a debtor will already know what assets it owns and where those assets are located. Unscrupulous debtors will try to hide or transform their assets through layers of transactions designed to frustrate enforcement. Bridging that informational gap requires the creative deployment of various investigative tools on behalf of the creditor.

On 9 May 2020, Bleepingcomputer.com published an article with an ominous sounding title “Hacker group floods dark web with data stolen from 11 companies”. In the article, it was revealed that a hacking group known as Shiny Hunters had hacked into the databases of companies such as Tokopedia (Indonesia’s largest online store) and Unacademy (one of India’s largest online learning platforms), and had begun selling the user databases over the Dark Web for between $500 to $5,000 each.

Litigation can be expensive. Very expensive. And the only thing litigants dislike more than paying their own attorneys’ fees is also having to pay the legal fees of their adversaries when they lose a case. Unsurprisingly, losing parties assert creative arguments to avoid this outcome. One recent example arose in FastShip, LLC v. United States, a case involving a third-party litigation funder.1 The losing defendant argued that, since the funder, not the plaintiff, paid the legal costs, the plaintiff lacked standing and its statutory right to recover attorneys’ fees was destroyed.

Economic uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the value of trust assets. Industry experts predict steep rises in insolvencies, affecting key industries. Many businesses may become cash-flow/balance sheet insolvent (if they are not already).

The severe economic and social impact of COVID-19 has increased the likelihood of fraud, not just in relation to the government assistance schemes where false claims could be made, but also the risks faced by companies and other organisations who may be subject to fraud as a result of the new working environment.

Switzerland’s recurrent presence in multi-jurisdictional asset tracing exercises is certainly not proportionate to the small size of its territory. For creditors however, the Swiss jurisdiction poses a number of challenges in terms of information retrieval. From the lack of centralized data to the use of three different main languages in business life, conducting research in Switzerland is often perceived as complex and costly.

Panama, which infamous “Panama Papers” have put the country in the limelight for the past four years, is not a traditional offshore jurisdiction. It is more of a traditional Civil Law jurisdiction with a (formerly) notable offshore sector. In the strict Civil Law tradition, Panamanian substantive and procedural laws tend to stress legal remedies over equitable remedies.  Thus, its judiciary is not prone to issue equitable relief to the same extent it is issued by its Common Law counterparts in England, the British Commonwealth and the United States of America.

Singapore is one of Asia’s leading centres for conventional banking and financial services, and is fast becoming a hub for digital payments and cryptocurrency platforms. As such, there is an ever-present risk of fraud. This article provides a snapshot of the mechanisms through which victims of fraud may seek to recover assets via civil proceedings in Singapore.

COVID-19 has had an overwhelming impact on the global economy. Future economic effects of the pandemic will largely depend on the efficiency of government actions. At present, record number of personal, corporate, local, and cross-border bankruptcy filings is being anticipated due to the virus.1 A vast majority of airlines is likely to collapse without extensive financial support paving the way to a litany of multinational failures

The insolvency process often features as a weapon in the asset recovery arsenal so far as corporate targets are concerned. It’s utility not only as a mechanism to recover assets but also as a tool with which to recovery information is well known. The appointment of administrators by creditors with a qualified floating charge is quick and effective and so it is not surprising why it is favoured by secured creditors. It’s use by unsecured creditors is, however, much less frequent principally because of the lack of information about the company’s business and affairs.

A form of fraud which FIRE practitioners are often asked to advise on starts with a contract, where one party is required to pay the other. For example, the paying party might be a buyer under a sale contract. The dispute arises where a fraudster has induced the buyer to pay the fraudster instead of the seller

Shaun Reardon-John outlines why pre-action asset investigation and preservation is going to be crucial during the Coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a perfect storm in which the increase in commercial disputes, fraud-related behaviours and insolvencies has come hand-in-hand with the impossibility of the judicial system to deal with them, as the crisis has also prevented the courts from operating normally.

As fraud continues to be rife, it is important to develop new tools and strengthen existing mechanisms to enable claimants to pursue, locate and enforce against fraudsters and their ill-gotten assets.  Over the past few years, the English Courts have continued to develop the law in this area. We set out below a non-exhaustive snapshot of some of these developments in three areas. These highlight the progress continuing to be made in the fight against fraud, and bodes extremely well for the future.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the far reaching and drastic measures implemented in numerous countries around the world, we are receiving an increasing number of insolvency and restructuring enquiries from our clients.

This quarterly civil fraud update provides a summary of reported decisions handed down in the courts of England and Wales in the period April - June 2020.

We are delighted to bring you the 'Litigation in Lockdown' edition of the FIRE Magazine, where you will get the latest insights from all professionals whose practice encompasses or touches upon Fraud, Insolvency, Recovery, Enforcement.

Read Here!

This quarterly civil fraud update provides a summary of reported decisions handed down in the courts of England and Wales in the period January - March 2020.

The government announced plans to introduce changes to current insolvency laws to ease pressures on UK businesses being caused by the global pandemic, COVID19. 

A freeze on fraud? Whilst the global economy is on hold as countries focus on defeating the coronavirus, if past experience of economic crises offers any guidance, then these will be precisely the times when fraud increases. Fortunately, the English legal system remains well placed to tackle this.

The case of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy v Kevin William Eagling [2019] EWHC 2806 (Ch) was the first brought by the Secretary of State under a regime in the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 providing for compensation orders. The

Insolvency proceedings are a potential option for clients to consider in situations where there are unpaid debts, judgments and orders and/or concerns over the dissipation of assets.

It is recognised that insolvency can seem a nuclear option for enforcement but insolvency proceedings can be an effective strategy to maximise recoveries where a client has an outstanding award.

The Family Court has demonstrated a willingness to assist a party to enforce a financial remedy order by allowing use of confidential documents where there is evidence of deliberate attempts by the respondent to frustrate English court’s orders, and where there is no evidence that the applicant acted unlawfully in accessing confidential materials.

Boris Berezovsky was born in January 1946. He was a Russian business Oligarch, government official and mathematician. Berezovsky was politically opposed to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin...