Appleby

Alex is Counsel in the Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey. Alex has a wide range of dispute resolution experience, focussing on commercial disputes, contentious insolvency matters and regulatory enforcement issues and proceedings. These matters have also included the obtaining of emergency injunctive relief, both on notice and ex parte, in Guernsey and abroad. Alex’s experience includes: Acting for certain directors to defend claims in the region of USD 1 billion brought by the liquidators of a parent company based in Guernsey. Acting for a fiduciary services provider and individual directors in respect of enforcement proceedings brought by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, including on Appeal. Acting for the Plaintiffs in a contractual dispute involving claims and counterclaims in the region of USD 50 million. Acting for a liquidator in a successful application for directions under s.426 of the Companies (Guernsey) Law 2008. Advising a fiduciary services provider in relation to certain sanctions. Advising the largest creditor within a liquidation in respect of funding the liquidators to pursue a multi-million dollar claim. Advising a corporate services provider on a multi-jurisdictional employment related dispute, involving the obtaining of ex parte injunctive relief abroad. Prior experience: Acted for the defendant in Rusnano v CRGF, in connection with proceedings before the Royal Court and Court of Appeal of Guernsey to terminate a Limited Partnership. The preparation of an unfair prejudice petition in respect of a claim amounting to tens of millions of GBP. Successfully intervening on behalf of a class of investors in a Privy Council case: Pearson (Appellant) v Primeo Fund (Respondent) (Cayman Islands) [2017] UKPC 19. Representing an international bank on a liquidation committee in connection with the solvent liquidation of a Madoff-related feeder fund. Acting for defendants in a claim brought by the Madoff Trustee involving claims of up to USD 1bn. Acting for defendants in connection with fraud claims in the region of USD 1 billion arising out of matters in South-East Asia. Acted in a successful challenge of an LCIA Award under s.68 of the Arbitration Act 1996: K and others v P and others [2019] EWHC 589 (comm).

Anthony Williams

Anthony is Head of Dispute Resolution in Guernsey. Anthony is an experienced trial and appellate advocate. He has significant experience in many areas of corporate litigation and dispute resolution. Anthony has a particular expertise in high value and complex commercial litigation, with particular focus on investment fund disputes, regulatory enforcement, contentious insolvency matters, asset-tracing and recovery work, and trust litigation. Anthony’s experience includes: Acting for certain directors to defend claims in the region of USD 1 billion brought by the liquidators of a parent company based in Guernsey. Advising and acting in Aareal Bank AG v JJW Limited, at first instance [2020] GRC 046 and on appeal [2021] GCA 021 which involved the first reported case in Guernsey concerning a contested compulsory winding up application. Acting for the successful Defendant in Rusnano v CRGF, proceedings before the Royal Court of Guernsey to terminate a Limited Partnership. Acting in Rusnano Capital v Molard International [2019] GRC011 and in the Guernsey Court of Appeal [2019] GCA077, which involved the question whether a sole beneficiary of a discretionary trust can call for distribution of the trust assets under Saunders v Vautier where the protector has a power to add further beneficiaries. Advising HSBC on the transfer of their banking business in Guernsey pursuant to a scheme of arrangement as part of a wider restructuring of the banking business in the UK. This was the first court sanctioned scheme of this kind in Guernsey. Winning an appeal to the Guernsey Court of Appeal on behalf of a Trustee in relation to an application by a beneficiary to terminate the trust. This is the leading decision in Guernsey with respect to the application of the common law rule in Saunders v Vautier. Winning an appeal to the Guernsey Court of Appeal on behalf of a Beneficiary in relation to an application to set aside various dispositions into trust. This is the leading decision in Guernsey with respect to the rule in Hastings Bass. Winning an appeal to the Guernsey Court of Appeal in relation to the scope and applicability of Directors’ indemnities. This case created new law in relation to the presumptive basis on which Directors take the benefit of indemnities contained in the Articles of Association. Appearing as trial advocate successfully representing a beneficiary of a trust in relation to a claim that certain trust assets be distributed to her. This case is the leading financial crime decision in Guernsey with respect to the scope and applicability of suspicious activity reports and the statutory “no consent” regime. Appearing as trial advocate representing a former senior executive defending claims of fraud with respect to the ownership of an LP. The trial involved extensive cross examination of multiple factual and expert witnesses. The decision has been reserved. Obtaining a freezing injunction and wide ranging disclosure orders as part of a worldwide claim arising out of complex and high value litigation in the UK. Obtaining an administration order in in respect of a number of Guernsey investment companies, forming part of a wider UK property holding structure, as part of a plan of restructuring to rescue the group as a going concern. The reorganisation involved the proposed restructuring of a secured loan facility in excess of £700million, and the managed disposal of an extensive portfolio of UK commercial real estate assets. Appearing for the acquirer in relation to the successful CAN$775million takeover of the NYX Gaming Group by way of contested scheme of arrangement. Acting for a global bank in connection with claw back claims instituted by the US Trustee of Madoff and the Liquidators of Fairfield. Acting on behalf of a number of Guernsey financial services businesses in connection with regulatory enforcement action for breaches of AML / CFT legalisation including advising with respect to compliance issues and remediation projects.

Daisy Fakude

Daisy is a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey. She advises on various aspects of commercial litigation and dispute resolution. She has experience regarding a wide range of contentious dispute resolution matters including commercial disputes, contractual disputes, debt and asset recovery, shareholder disputes, director liability disputes, contentious trust disputes, insolvency matters and insolvency related court proceedings. She has acted for various stakeholders including large corporations, creditors (mostly corporations and financial institutions), liquidators, trustees and high net worth individuals. Notable work highlights include: Successfully defending a trustee of two guernsey trusts and the corporate director of a company within the trust structure in a claim before the Royal Court for losses which were allegedly suffered by the trusts owing to the gross negligence of the trustee in respect to the administration of the assets of the trusts. As well as further loses which allegedly arose as a result of the corporate director breaching its fiduciary duties in its capacity as the director of the underlying company within the trust structure [A Kazzaz and others v Standard Chartered Trust (Guernsey) Ltd (in liquidation) & Songbird Limited [2023] GRC049]. The claims in the aforesaid proceedings involved complex issues of trust, regulatory, commercial and insolvency law. Acting for an erstwhile fund administrator to defend claims in the region of US$18 million brought by the liquidators of a Guernsey fund; Acting for a beneficiary of three Guernsey trusts (with combined assets in excess of £600 million) in connection with various contentious proceedings before the Royal Court. Acting for a director of a Guernsey fiduciary services provider in connection with regulatory enforcement proceedings brought by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. Advising an erstwhile trustee in connection with a breach of trust claim brought by a beneficiary of the trust arising from the transfer of the entirety of the trust fund out of the trust, and the resultant termination of the trust. Prior experience: Acting for various shareholders of the Steinhoff Group regarding their claims (cumulatively in excess of R2 billion) arising from the reduction in value of their shares following the major accounting scandal in December 2017. Acting for the business rescue practitioner of five companies within a leading South African construction group regarding various issues arising from the business rescue process, including the cancellation or suspension of the companies’ obligations under various contracts, preparing and/or reviewing post commencement finance agreements and advising the business rescue practitioner on the restructure of the group. Acting for the liquidators of two South African companies regarding the investigation and institution of proceedings against the former directors of the companies in order to hold the directors personally liable for the debts of the companies (which were in excess of R500 million). Acting for a prominent South African Bank regarding its R80 million claim against an Irish debtor arising from the debtor’s default under various loan agreements concluded and implemented in South Africa.

Dylan Latimer

Dylan is a Partner in the Corporate Department in Guernsey. Dylan has considerable expertise in a wide range of corporate, banking and investment fund matters. He specialises in banking and finance (including real estate finance, fund finance and security enforcement), M&A and investment funds. He also advises on insurance matters including captives and reinsurance structures. Dylan trained at Maples and Calder in Dublin. Prior to joining Appleby, he was a Partner at an international law firm in Guernsey.

James Gallimore

James is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey. James qualified as an English solicitor in 2019. James advises on contentious and non-contentious employment issues for a wide range of clients including international companies and financial institutions. He has worked on Employment Tribunal claims relating to unfair dismissal, sex discrimination and disability discrimination. James has experience on multi-jurisdictional employment projects and undertaking corporate support work. James also drafts employment-related documentation, such as contracts of employment, HR policies, director’s service agreements and settlement agreements.

Jeremy Berchem

Jeremy Berchem is a Group Partner in the Corporate team. From April 2020 to April 2023 Jeremy was the Office Managing Group Partner in Guernsey. Jeremy has extensive experience of all areas of banking and finance work including advising both lenders and borrowers in relation to all aspects of subscription, acquisition, property and asset finance transactions. In addition Jeremy advises on the issuance of bonds and other debt instruments and their listing on the TISE, the sale and purchase of companies, corporate governance matters and the restructuring of corporate and debt structures. He also has a broad corporate and commercial practice and advises on general corporate matters. Notable transactions include: Acting as Guernsey counsel to HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA in connection with its acquisition of HSBC’s private banking business in Guernsey. Acting for Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Plc acting as agent for a syndicate of 3 banks in the accession of various sub-funds to, and amendments to, existing subscription facilities of up to EUR 4,000,000,000 currently made available to a major Guernsey fund. Acting as lead counsel to The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited in respect of various investor backed loan facilities made available to Lakestar funds. Acting as Alderney counsel to a syndicate of lenders (including Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, Lloyds Bank plc, NatWest, Barclays Bank PLC, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. and Santander) in connection with the amendment and restatement, including a facility increase, of a £1.5 billion facility and a USD 2 billion facility. Acting as Guernsey counsel to the States of Guernsey in putting in place with Lloyds Bank plc a bilateral £100,000,000 facility to replace the States’ existing £250,000,000 syndicated facility. Acting regularly for Investec Bank plc in connection with funds finance and property finance transactions. He has acted on 16 transactions during 2022. Acting regularly (in excess of 15 transactions during 2022) for the private bank division of HSBC Guernsey in lending to high net worth individuals and their structures.

Koketso Mathebula

Koketso is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team in Guernsey. Koketso hosts an array of practice experience in litigation, alternative dispute resolution (arbitration & mediation), fraud investigation and regulatory advisory with a keen focus on complex commercial law issues, varied contractual disputes, recovery of debts, contentious insolvency proceedings, trust disputes including debatement of trust account, and perfection of securities. His experience further covers regulatory compliance within the cyber-crime and data protection sector, the procurement of urgent relief, corporate litigation, particularly, directors’ liability and shareholder disputes, and investigations within the financial services sector. He has acted for clients in the consumer goods and retail sectors, financial services, hospitality, telecommunications, insurance and real estate.

Leona Maharaj

Leona is a Senior Associate in Appleby’s Corporate department in Guernsey. Leona’s expertise is predominantly in the areas of general banking and debt finance, syndicated lending, commercial property finance, acquisition finance, fund finance, leveraged finance and related security structures acting on behalf of both borrowers and lenders.

Niall MacDonald

Niall MacDonald is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution department in Appleby’s Jersey office. He advises on all types of commercial dispute and has extensive advocacy experience ranging from representing clients regarding trusts and multi-jurisdictional issues (before the Royal Court of Jersey and Court of Appeal) to resolving local employment disputes (before the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal). His practice now focuses on the following specialisms: commercial & contractual disputes; employment & regulatory matters; trust litigation; together with fraud, asset tracing & insolvency cases. The breadth of his experience equips him particularly well when such issues overlap, for example with misconduct investigations concerning regulatory matters. His clients range from high net worth individuals and executives, to leading global and local corporate entities. The cases which he has resolved over the last 15 years have involved a broad range of other areas of the law (including company, contract, criminal, data protection, insolvency, insurance, planning, professional negligence and regulatory).

Omoloa Botsane

Omolola is an Associate in the Corporate department in Guernsey. Omolola was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa in May 2022, having trained and practised as an attorney at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, one of the leading corporate and commercial law firms in South Africa, during which time she gained experience in the Dispute Resolution, Finance & Banking, and Human Rights & Pro Bono practice areas. Prior to joining Appleby, Omolola’s experience was predominantly in telecommunications regulatory work and commercial litigation in various sectors.

Richard Field

Richard is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution team at Appleby, specialising in corporate, trust and commercial litigation and regulatory matters. His regulatory focus is on data protection (including cyber), AML and compliance, technology and eGaming. Richard is one of the global leads for Privacy and Data Protection at Appleby and is the Guernsey lead for the firm’s Technology and Innovation practice group. Richard has acted for a range of local and global institutions on complex, cross-border disputes involving funds, banking and investment relationships and trusts. Many of the cases he has worked on involve fraud, asset-tracing and applications for injunctive relief, or regulatory issues (such as enforcement, AML, bribery or sanctions), often resulting in ground-breaking judgments, both in Guernsey and England. He is Vice-Chair of GACO (Guernsey Association of Compliance Officers) and involved in the current review of changes to Guernsey’s financial crime regime and preparations for the island’s MoneyVal assessment. He has been heavily involved in trust litigation, appearing in the trial of the Tchenguiz litigation in Guernsey, also advising on trustee removal, mistake and momentous decision applications, working along the firm’s private client team. He has recently appeared in a three-day trial of a will construction matter which will become the leading authority on such issues, and is working with the Jersey team in defending a novel claim involving reconstitution of a trust. Richard has been working on data protection and cyber matters for many years and is recognised as being at the forefront of advising on Guernsey´s Data Protection regime and GDPR. He sits on the States of Guernsey´s GDPR Industry Working Party, is involved in policy development and is both a committee member of the Islands’ Data Governance Forum and a qualified GDPR Practitioner. He is instructed by insurers in relation to cyber/incident response and managing breaches from initial discovery to remediation. Richard sits on the Digital Guernsey Panel and has been involved in providing input into the island’s Electronic Agents legislation, believed to be a “world first” in terms of setting a regulatory framework. He has also been involved with the Guernsey Financial Service Commission’s G-FIN working group and their wider initiatives at engagement with the local business community on fintech issues. He has historically been involved with the first use of blockchain in the private equity marketplace, spoken at the island’s first blockchain conference and advised on several digital identity, digital wallet, connected vehicles, cryptocurrency and e-CDD projects. Richard has written and spoken about GDPR/privacy extensively, both in the Channel Islands and further afield, working on projects including guidance on Guernsey´s data protection regime, co-authoring a guide to the impact of GDPR in the Channel Islands and contributing the Guernsey chapter to global law firms and legal subscription databases. He has also provided input to STEP UK on their GDPR guidance for trustees and fiduciary office holders, OneTrust on various articles, and Business Brief on regulatory/technology topics.

Richard Sheldon

Richard is the Managing Group Partner in Guernsey and member of the Dispute Resolution team, specialising in advising clients on employment law and regulatory issues. Richard leads the Channel Islands employment team, and is one of the pre-eminent employment lawyers in the region, advising on all areas of employment law including, strategic advice, litigation, transactional support and director / shareholder disputes, as well as advising on matters such as executive severance, employee share schemes, pensions, restrictive covenants, bonus disputes and trade union issues. In addition, Richard has advised on a number of major contentious regulatory matters including in particular enforcement action by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) against both companies and their directors, and has a particular expertise in the field of complex investigations into regulatory issues. Richard has a growing reputation in the field and has been the lead adviser on a number of regulatory enforcement cases over the years such as Blenheim, Richmond and Artemis, representing those companies through the enforcement process. Richard also regularly represents directors at voluntary interviews with the GFSC. Over recent years Richard has conducted a number of complex investigations for clients, relating to potential employee frauds, breaches of fiduciary duties, compliance around sanctions as well as sexual harassment in the workplace. Richard’s experience includes advising; A global financial services business on the investigation and dismissal of a senior director in respect of allegations of sexual harassment A tech business in relation the exit of a senior employee, and successfully defending claims before the Tribunal of discrimination on the grounds of sex and maternity The successful appellants in the case of Domaille & others v Guernsey Financial Services Commission in overturning on appeal before the Royal Court, regulatory enforcement sanctions imposed by the GFSC. A 50% owner of a professional services firm in relation to a dispute with his fellow owner, including successfully exiting the other party from the firm, as shareholder, director and employee. A former director of a fund administrator in relation to regulatory enforcement action taken by the GFSC, including successfully negotiating a private reprimand rather any form of public censure. A international financial services business on a post-acquisition integration restructure, including harmonisation of terms and conditions.

Stuart Tyler

Stuart Tyler is a Partner and Group Head within the Corporate Department in Guernsey. Stuart deals with a number of corporate and commercial matters including fund raising, acquisitions, debt finance, financial services regulatory matters, insolvency, shareholder arrangements, insurance structures and the commercial aspects of trusts and foundations law.

Tristan Ozanne

Tristan is a Group Partner in the Corporate Department in Guernsey and joined Appleby in 2024. Tristan has an extremely broad and in-depth experience of all Corporate & Commercial, Banking and Finance and Regulatory work, gained through over 20 years of offshore practice. He has particular expertise in corporate acquisitions and corporate advisory, together with fund finance and real estate finance. Tristan frequently advises on regulatory matters across all supervisory laws pertaining to collective investment funds and licensees. He is described as having “a sound legal mind and common sense judgement. An asset to have on your side.” and as being “extremely well-connected throughout the region.” Other client feedback includes: “Tristan provides efficient, strong legal advice and is a pleasure to work with.” “In addition to his legal knowledge, Tristan also keeps an eye on the business challenges of his clients. He provides helpful and valuable advice on legal matters.” “Tristan is helpful and responsive.” “Tristan is very good, very thorough and easy to talk to.” “Tristan is great on lending and has a strong team with him.” “A sound legal mind and common sense judgement”. “An asset to have on your side”. “Extremely well-connected throughout the region”. “Great knowledge of Guernsey law”. “Keeps an eye on the business challenges of his clients”. “Tristan’s advice is clear and targeted to the client’s objectives”. “Tristan is very responsive and easy to work with”. “Tristan is solid and dependable”. “Swift and well thought out solutions”. “Knowledgeable, proactive and easy to work with”. “Highly responsive with strong industry knowledge.” “Tristan is both smart and responsive and a pleasure to work with”. “Tristan is so helpful and knowledgeable. We feel safe in his hands”. “A dynamic and friendly lawyer with great ambition”.

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