Partner

Stephen Moi

Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Banking & Finance Litigation, Contentious Insolvency & Fraud

London +44 20 3130 3000

smoi@mayerbrown.com

"Stephen Moi is absolutely first class. His outwardly polite and polished manner belie a steely and tenacious litigator."

“Very smart and commercial… a clever partner with excellent judgement."

“Extremely bright. The quality of the work produced by him is always of an exceptional standard.”

Legal 500

Overview

Stephen Moi represents clients in a variety of commercial and corporate contexts, with a particular focus on cross-border disputes and investigations.

Stephen advises regularly on private international law issues relating to jurisdiction and governing law, and has considerable experience of enforcing foreign judgments and arbitral awards. Clients turn to him for his experience in managing complex and sensitive disputes from the pre-action stage through to the substantive hearing and appeal; this includes UK High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings as well as arbitration under LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL, and LMAA Rules.

Clients also engage Stephen in internal investigations and contentious regulatory matters. During his two-year secondment to the firm’s Hong Kong office, he acted for a leading international bank in a group-wide investigation and monitorship concerning financial crime, compliance, and corporate governance related matters.

Stephen serves as a partner in charge of Pro Bono for the London office, and is the client relationship partner for Save the Children and The Royal Ballet & Opera (The Royal Opera House).

Experience

Litigation

Represented:

The Liquidators of an engineering and construction company, which went into insolvent liquidation with debts totalling over US$2 billion, in litigation against former directors, officers, and shareholders, and on asset tracing and recovery strategy in multiple onshore and offshore jurisdictions, including on claims involving false accounting, fraud, breach of directors’ and other fiduciary duties, wrongful and fraudulent trading, unlawful distributions, knowing receipt and dishonest assistance, and unlawful means conspiracy.
A leading financial institution in litigation and asset recovery actions in multiple jurisdictions regarding various disputed trade finance transactions.
The Administrators of a substantial real estate business in court proceedings relating to the scope and effect of various security interests in the administration estate: Re Industrial North West LLP (in administration) [2020] EWHC 3052 (Ch).

A number of leading casinos in multi-jurisdictional litigation in connection with asset recovery enforcement actions, involving cross-border issues concerning jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, proprietary remedies, and bankruptcy and insolvency petitions.
UBS in English Commercial Court proceedings concerning single-tranche CDOs and credit default swaps entered into with a municipal water company: UBS v. Kommunale Wasserwerke Leipzig GmbH and others [2014] EWHC 3615 (Comm).
A bank in a Commercial Court trial against a claim brought by a pension fund in respect of investments made in a structured investment vehicle under a securities lending programme: Första AP-Fonden v. Bank of New York Mellon and others [2013] EWHC 3127 (Comm).
Various Private Equity clients in post-completion disputes, including claims involving breach of warranty, contractual interpretation, expert determination, and other issues arising from acquisition and dispositions.
Various clients in contentious restructuring matters, both on the creditor side and debtor side, and for insolvency practitioners, restructuring advisors, and company directors.
Various clients in joint venture, shareholder, and corporate governance disputes, including unfair prejudice petitions.
Various clients on cross-border issues in support of litigation and arbitration, including on multi-jurisdictional document production and on compelling witnesses to give depositions and other evidence pursuant to the Hague Evidence Convention or for section 1782 applications.

Arbitration

Acted for:

An Indian energy company in an ICC arbitration regarding a contractual dispute arising from an LNG infrastructure project.
An international bank in a multi-party arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules concerning disputed payment calculations in relation to a cross-border oil pipeline.
An oil refinery in LCIA arbitration proceedings concerning the supply of crude oil.
An oil company in LMAA arbitration proceedings arising out of exploration and production activities offshore Brazil.
Various corporates in ICC and LCIA arbitrations regarding disputed derivative contracts under ISDA Master Agreements, including in relation to allegations concerning invalidity, misselling, fraud, negligence, and foreign exchange controls.

Investigations

Advising a European financial institution in connection with public investigations and prosecutions commenced in multiple jurisdictions arising out of the so-called Azerbaijani Laundromat, and regarding its potential exposure to financial crime, legal, compliance, reputational, and other risks.
Advising the Independent Reviewer of the Connaught Review concerning the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) supervision of the collapsed Connaught Income Fund Series 1, including conduct of the investigation and preparation of the public report. Identified lessons to be learned by the FCA, all of which were publicly accepted.
Acting for a global financial institution in an enterprise-wide compliance investigation into its financial crime risk controls arising out of a deferred prosecution agreement.
Advising the Liquidators of a manufacturing company on investigations into, and litigation arising out of, suspicious and potentially fraudulent transactions, following a pre-packaged administration.
Investigation into alleged corrupt practices in the Brazilian and Canadian operations of a European company. Conducted remediation measures, including advising on related litigation, termination of third-party contracts, and dismissal of employees, and engagement with internal stakeholders and the client’s key customers.
Investigation into whistleblowing allegations concerning an oil and gas client, including advising on communications with regulators.
Investigation into conduct-related whistleblowing allegations within a financial institution.

Recognition

Listed as a key lawyer for Banking Litigation and International Arbitration – Legal 500
"Absolutely first class. His outwardly polite and polished manner belie a steely and tenacious litigator;" "A clever partner with excellent judgement;" "Very smart and commercial." – Legal 500
Listed as a key lawyer for Banking Litigation, Fraud, and International Arbitration – Legal 500
“Stephen Moi [is an] excellent new partner, very hard working and commercially minded. … Stephen’s promotion to partner is well deserved. He is very hard working and extremely bright. The quality of his work is always of an exceptional standard.” – Legal 500
“Stephen Moi is very good at detail, is very thorough and easy to work with. He is very good at client handling and coordinated really tricky issues regarding communication with the FCA and stakeholders and was key to keeping the matter on track. Mayer Brown were excellent and always one step ahead in thinking through issues and solutions to problems that might arise. Resolved an issue that had been ongoing for several months, within a matter of weeks.” – Legal 500

Education

The College of Law, London, Legal Practice Course
University College London (University of London), LLM Master of Laws
Pembroke College, Oxford University, MA (Hons) Law

Admissions

England and Wales
Solicitor Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience (Civil)

Professional & Community Involvement

London Solicitors Litigation Association
LCIA Young International Arbitration Group
ICC Young Arbitrators Forum