Stephenson Harwood

Commercial litigation

Sean is a commercial litigation partner specialising in contentious regulatory matters, advising financial institutions and senior executives in connection with all aspects of complex investigations including related litigation and insurance matters.

Sean's recent work includes advising a prominent financial institution and an international intermediary on FCA enforcement proceedings and supervisory visits. He has advised a major lender in relation to regulatory, litigation and insurance issues arising from significant accounting irregularities.

Sean has broad experience of financial services redress exercises in a range of legal and regulatory contexts. He has advised a leading international financial services business regarding issues with the sale of retail products to approximately two million customers, including using an innovative Scheme.

He has extensive experience of advising regulated firms on remedies concerning decisions of authorities and public bodies, including the FCA, PRA, FOS and SFO.

Sean has represented a number of international banks in relation to sanctions issues, including in judicial review proceedings against HM Government and in cases in the General Court and the Court of Justice.

Sean acted for Vincent Tchenguiz, Robert Tchenguiz and the associated trusts in various litigation and regulatory matters connected with the SFO's 2011 dawn raids, which were successfully challenged in judicial review proceedings. He has assisted directors of financial and other institutions with the consequences of major regulatory and litigation crises.

He has particular expertise regarding legal professional privilege and has litigated privilege issues in the Court of Appeal and House of Lords. He worked on the Bank of England litigation defending the claim for misfeasance in public office arising out of the supervision of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).

Sean led the team which won the Legal Week/British Legal Awards litigation and regulatory team of the year for a ground-breaking challenge to a major investigatory and prosecuting authority. Legal 500 describes Sean as "technically strong". Chambers UK describe him as "very knowledgeable, easy to work with…works hard, thinking laterally to achieve the best result for his clients" and "very pragmatic, very intelligent, and an experienced litigator".