Chris Webber

Commercial Disputes

• Acting for a multinational US food products manufacturer in the defence before the High Court and Court of Appeal of a €40 million claim by a Netherlands-based competitor. Our team was shortlisted for Commercial/Corporate Litigation Team of the Year at the Legal Week Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Awards for this case.
• Acting for a Middle Eastern public body in the successful defence of a US$48 million claim involving parallel proceedings in the UK and New York concerning a consulting agreement with a US-based consulting firm and an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
• Acting for the founders of a claims management company in a professional negligence claim against former advisers in relation to a £30 million sale of the business to a UK private equity fund.
• Advising an Eastern European conglomerate in relation to complex multijurisdictional claims against its founder, auditors and various other parties arising from the discovery of €2 billion misstatements of the group’s accounts.
• Acting for an international renewable energy developer in defence of a €5 million claim by an advisory firm under a memorandum of understanding for the development of energy projects in Europe.
• Acting for an international sports advertising company based in the UK in multiple multimillion-pound High Court disputes arising from disruption in sports advertising following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Acting for a European art collector in defence of a claim for a multimillion-pound commission in relation to the US$250 million sale of a famous work of art.

Corporate and Shareholder Disputes

• Acting for a co-founder and substantial minority shareholder in a software company in a circa £25 million complex cross-border derivative claim against the directors following a sale transaction to a related party at an undervalue.
• Acting for a FTSE 250 manufacturing business in pursuit of multiple related breach of warranty claims in the High Court arising from the £13 million acquisition of a niche competitor.
• Acting for an innovative, high-growth financial advisory firm in relation to multiple related M&A disputes arising from the acquisitions of a number of regulated financial services firms.
• Acting for a major property developer in defence of a £18 million dispute arising from the expulsion of a member of a limited liability partnership established to develop a £75 million gross development value UK residential development site.
• Acting for a party to a shareholder dispute in relation to the management of a UK-based hedge fund and related enforcement of a US$5 million judgment of the Seychelles courts.
• Acting for a high-growth UK adtech company in high-stakes LCIA arbitration proceedings against a venture capital investor arising from a fundraising round and related consultancy services agreement.
• Acting for an international flexible office space provider in defence of multiple investment mis-selling claims brought by shareholders in relation to investment activities totalling £15 million.

Financial Services Disputes

• Acting for a limited partner in a US$1.5 billion private equity fund in respect of US$200 million claims arising from the mismanagement of the fund.
• Acting for the founder of a care home group in defence of £30 million restitution claims brought by the FCA involving allegations of operating unauthorised collective investment schemes and breaches of sections 89 and 90 of the Financial Services Act 2012.
• Acting for a commercial property development company borrower in a multimillion-pound dispute with its mezzanine lender following the declaration of a “material adverse change” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Advising multiple creditors in relation to the collapse into special administration of FCA-regulated prime broker firm Sova Capital following the imposition of sanctions relating to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
• Acting for a major international broker dealer firm in a €130 million claim against another financial institution arising from the negligent closeout of over €4 billion of derivative contracts.
• Acting for an FCA-regulated alternative investment fund management firm in defence of several hundred mis-selling claims totalling circa £10 million by investors in a collapsed retail investment bond issuer.
• Acting for counterparties to derivative contracts in claims for more than US$40 million due to early termination following insolvency.
• Acting for a pension fund in obtaining and executing multiple freezing, search and passport confiscation orders in support of US$40 million civil fraud proceedings in Florida.

Regulatory Investigations

• Advising a wealth management firm and two of its senior executives in FCA enforcement investigations relating to its self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) management business.
• Advising an FCA-regulated alternative investment fund management firm in relation to a substantial section 166 “skilled person” review and remediation project in relation to its systems and controls.
• Advising an international flexible office space provider in relation to an FCA investigation into its UK investment capital-raising activities.
• Acting for a debt advisory firm in relation to an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation into alleged frontrunning of an AU$10 billion swap transaction.
• Advising the UK branch of an EU-headquartered commercial bank on an internal investigation following FCA enquiries regarding potential anti-competitive conduct in the UK syndicated lending market.
• Acting for an AIM-listed renewable energy company in defence of an investigation into alleged breaches of AIM rules arising from multimillion-pound-related party lending transactions.
• Advising a US broker dealer firm in relation to an FCA investigation into substantial alleged breaches of CASS (client money) rules.
• Acting as an FCA-approved “skilled person” on two major past business review and redress programmes in respect of sales by a commercial bank of interest rate hedging products.
• Acting for a statutory body in a judicial review brought by more than 200 financial services firms challenging an exercise of its powers.