Cloth Fair Chambers

With over 25 years experience as an advocate, Alison Pople KC commands universal acclaim as a leading silk. Distinguished by her extraordinary expertise in financial crime and regulation, Alison also has specialism in corporate crime, global investigations, crime and professional discipline. Her reputation as an esteemed authority is cemented by her regular involvement as a trusted advisor in prominent, high-stakes, and intricate investigations. Alison excels in addressing the complex, multifaceted, and sensitive issues faced by high-profile individuals, seasoned professionals, politically exposed figures, and other vulnerable clients. On the corporate front, her clientele has included large multinational corporations, private equity funds and highly niche SMEs. In addition to her recognition as a skilled and persuasive advocate in both jury and non-jury court proceedings, Alison also provides counsel on self-reporting intricacies and devises strategic approaches from the inception of investigations led by authoritative bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, Competition and Markets Authority, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and the Financial Reporting Council. Areas of expertise: Bribery and Corruption: Alison has acted in a significant number of Bribery Act 2010 and pre-Bribery Act investigations conducted by the SFO, including corporate investigations and contested UK criminal proceedings relating to domestic and international corruption. Alison acted in respect of an approved Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached with the SFO relating to corporate offences of failing to prevent bribery. Fraud: Alison has advised and represented many clients investigated for or charged with Fraud Act 2006 offences and other associated offences by either the SFO or the CPS. She has also advised on the prosecution of Fraud Act matters. Tax Evasion: Alison has represented individuals under investigation by HMRC, including high-net worth individuals with issues in multiple jurisdictions. She has been successful in avoiding criminal prosecution. Alison has also advised corporate clients on potential exposure and compliance procedures in relation to corporate offences of failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion contrary to the Criminal Finances Act 2017. Insider Dealing: Alison has advised on a number of insider dealing investigations undertaken by the FCA, and represented clients in three separate criminal cases brought by the FCA.  Cartels: Alison successfully represented an individual charged with the criminal cartel offence by the OFT (now CMA) under the Enterprise Act 2002, as well as successfully avoiding prosecution for the cartel offence in two other separate cases. Alison is also experienced in advising clients subject to civil cartel investigations undertaken by the CMA. Proceeds of Crime: Alison has wide-ranging experience advising and representing clients facing legal action or investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, including Part 2 (confiscation), Part 5 (civil recovery), Part 7 (money laundering) and Part 8 (investigations) as well as advising corporate clients and firms on all aspects of the Money Laundering Regulations. Professional Discipline: Alison has acted for a wide range of professionals including solicitors, accountants, medical professionals and police officers under investigation by their professional supervisory bodies, both in tribunal proceedings and in an advisory capacity. She is skilled in preparing successful early representations to avoid proceedings. Regulatory: Alison is experienced in addressing a broad spectrum of financial regulatory issues either as the main issue or ancillary to criminal investigations. She is adept at addressing niche regulatory issues raised by a particular business sector; examples of her prior advisory work include the regulation of medicines and healthcare products and the regulation of assessment of varying rates of landfill tax. Health & Safety: Alison has experience of advising on health and safety investigations, including those involving fatalities. Crime: Alison has experience of advising and representing clients in several high-profile criminal cases, including the 2014 phone-hacking trial. Special Advocate: Alison also acts as a Special Advocate, instructed by the Attorney General in High Court, Administrative Court or SIAC proceedings. Renowned for her first-rate practice, it comes as no surprise that Alison has earned the title of “a top notch silk”.

Ian Winter is a leading white-collar crime silk with an impressive track record of advising companies and individuals facing allegations of financial crime.  Renowned for his formidable advocacy, legal analysis and strategic thinking, Ian is first choice for his clients and commands enormous respect from his peers for his tenacity and appetite for work. With over 30 years in practice, Ian’s expertise is consistently sought after by both corporate entities and individuals involved in cases brought by the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Conduct Authority who require complex strategic advice from the onset. He also represents clients on matters of financial discipline, appearing at hearings in front of a variety of regulatory bodies.

John Kelsey-Fry KC is Head of Cloth Fair Chambers. He is widely recognised as one of the leading silks at the Criminal Bar. He is outstanding in front of a jury, has exceptional advocacy skills and his wealth of experience is almost unparalleled. As one commentator says, “There is rarely a high-profile criminal case where he is not instructed, and his level of commitment and can-do approach is inspirational”. John is particularly sought after in areas of business and financial crime where his criminal expertise is matched by his commercial understanding and his strategic vision. He is exemplary at advising boards and individuals alike. He is also known for high-profile general crime and is often cited for his work involving defamation where his cross-examination skills have proved game-changing. Further, he is commended for his work in the sports sector, having a wide range of experience of sporting and regulatory tribunals.

Jonathan is a highly respected leading advocate in the fields of crime and fraud, operating “at the highest end of the market”. Singled out as an “elegant”, “charismatic” advocate and “excellent strategist”, he wins praise for his “supreme” judgement and “superb analytical skills". Jonathan is routinely instructed to represent professional and corporate clients in high-profile, financial and heavyweight criminal matters both at trial and for strategic advice at the investigation stage. “A class act”, he is noted for being “incredibly intelligent”, “extremely industrious” and “really great to work with”. Jonathan represented Victor Dahdaleh, the “power broker” acquitted on all counts re corruption of the Prime Minister of Bahrain [2014] 1 W.L.R. 1857. He also secured the acquittal of Eddy Shah, the former media magnate, on all historical rape charges.

Nicholas Purnell KC's career at the Bar spans over four decades and includes 20 years as a Recorder of the Crown Court and as a Deputy High Court Judge. Nicholas has covered every area of criminal and criminal-related law. His immense experience enables him to bring a commanding level of expertise and strategic planning to each new case. Nicholas practises principally in commercial and business crime and in regulatory and professional disciplinary matters. When instructed in the investigation stage, he advises clients in cases under examination by global regulatory and prosecuting authorities including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Conduct Authority, the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The development of collaborative investigations across jurisdictions requires the appropriate team to be in place to provide joint advice on the impact of managing the response to investigations on a global basis. Nicholas has specialist experience in the development of the appropriate strategy to enable businesses to develop and cope with the resource demands imposed by such investigations.

Rachel is a highly sought-after junior in the fields of financial crime (individual and corporate), investigations, and high-profile general crime. Her reputation is formidable, with accolades in Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal firmly establishing her as “one of the very best junior barristers at the Bar”. Rachel is regularly instructed to act for individual and corporate clients in the most serious and heavyweight white-collar investigations and prosecutions. She has a breadth of experience, with current and past instructions encompassing a wide range of offences, including fraud, bribery and corruption, false accounting, forgery, Revenue offences and money laundering. She acts for clients at all stages of criminal proceedings, from pre-charge advice, including advice in connection with the conduct of corporate internal investigations, to jury trials and appellate work. She also has experience in the conduct of private prosecutions. Rachel’s advice is routinely sought on a wide range of ancillary matters, including privilege, search warrants, restraint, account freezing orders, forfeiture, and confiscation. She has experience in judicial review, appeals by way of case stated and habeas corpus applications. The cases in which she is instructed frequently involve parallel civil and regulatory proceedings and raise issues spanning multiple jurisdictions. The multi-jurisdictional nature of Rachel’s practice is complemented by her expertise in extradition and mutual legal assistance. She is recognised in the directories as “one of the most able and prominent junior barristers in the field”, and is regularly instructed in high profile extradition proceedings, particularly proceedings with a financial crime context. She also has a substantial advisory practice in this area, advising clients in connection with anticipated extradition requests, Interpol notices and MLA requests. Outside the field of financial crime, Rachel’s notable instructions include acting for a senior News of the World journalist charged with phone hacking, and defending an election agent accused, alongside a Conservative MP, of submitting false election expenses returns following the 2015 General Election.  Rachel is one of very few juniors with expertise in criminal proceedings arising out of alleged breaches of electoral law.

Rhys Meggy’s practice centres on defending allegations of financial criminality or regulatory impropriety on the part of professionals and corporates. In commercial crime, Rhys’ expertise includes defending allegations of bribery and corruption; large-scale fraud and false accounting; tax evasion; insider dealing; breaches of the general prohibition under FMSA; anticompetitive behaviour; breaches of export controls; insolvency and company law offences; breaches of health and safety and environmental regulations; and money laundering. In addition to FCA, SFO, HMRC, CMA and IS work, Rhys has a particular niche in the defence of executives and corporates pursued by Companies House and the Office of National Statistics. Rhys also has a well-established practice in financial services regulation, appearing before both the FCA’ s Regulatory Decisions Committee and/or the Upper Tribunal for both individuals and firms in connection with allegations of misconduct or challenges to authorisation decisions. He has extensive practical experience of the intersection of the civil and criminal jurisdictions where he frequently advises parties to civil fraud litigation as to the criminal implications of the conduct at issue, both in the UK and offshore. His general criminal work covers the entire spectrum of offences, not least: murder and manslaughter (including corporate); sexual offences; perverting the course of justice; and misconduct in public place.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rhys also has longstanding experience of advising on and/or appearing in: anonymity and/or reporting restriction applications; HMRC CoP8 and CoP9 tax investigations; HMRC compounding negotiations following from export finance breaches; judicial review and/or ‘section 59 CJPA’ proceedings relating to the seizure and retention of evidence; account freezing order (AFO), cash detention and civil forfeiture proceedings; disputes concerning LPP and Independent Counsel reviews. Prior to coming to the Bar, Rhys worked at a law firm in the BVI, liquidating the feeder funds of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Later, Rhys was seconded to advise a global investment bank in respect of a wide variety of financial misconduct issues, including dealings with regulators in the context of bribery, money laundering and tax compliance investigations. Rhys won UK Financial Crime Junior of the Year at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2022.

Stuart’s practice focuses on matters involving allegations of misconduct by companies, directors, public officials and financial professionals. He acts for individuals and corporates investigated and prosecuted by the SFO, FCA, HMRC and specialist divisions of the CPS and advises victims of financial crime.  He assists corporates with internal investigations and in their interactions with the criminal justice system and regulators.  He has considerable experience in Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings. Stuart advises on a range of matters affecting companies including bribery, fraud, anti-money laundering, sanctions, data protection, brand and content protection and consumer protection.  He has a wealth of prosecution experience to draw upon and maintains a specialist prosecution practice, including private prosecutions. He has complementary experience of advising and acting in respect of individual and company insolvency and has acted for a director in contested company director disqualification proceedings.  He has appeared in cases before the tax tribunals as leading junior, led junior and alone. Since co-authoring the Butterworths’ Guide to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Stuart has maintained a keen interest in this area, conducting confiscation, restraint and enforcement hearings.  Recently, he was invited to contribute to the Law Commission’s work on suggested reform of the law of confiscation.  He has experience in dealing with orders obtained on behalf of foreign prosecutors by MLA, acting in the high-profile successful discharge application of a restraint order obtained on behalf of the Vatican.  He has considerable experience in account freezing and cash forfeiture cases: recent matters have seen the release of the trading accounts of a bitcoin brokerage and a construction company. Stuart has a longstanding specialism in Intellectual Property Crime and content protection.  He is instructed by a variety of rightsholders and provides detailed advice on the substantive law and on investigations and procedure.  He has spoken on IP crime at the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime. Stuart acts for clients in proceedings before a diverse range of disciplinary tribunals and regulators.  These have included governing bodies in respect of the accountancy profession, the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the FCA, the Electoral Commission and the internal disciplinary committee of a political party.

Tom Allen focuses on commercial and business crime alongside financial regulation. He represents corporate entities and individuals, in respect of both domestic and international matters involving allegations of fraud, bribery, corruption, and money laundering.