'Chris Roberts - will surely be a partner in the future'.
Legal 500 2023

Aperçu

Chris Roberts is counsel in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice of the London office. He is a member of the Firm’s White Collar Defence & Compliance practice and of the Banking & Finance Litigation practice. He also established and coordinates the London office’s cross-practice Compliance & Investigations team.

Chris is an experienced litigator who represents financial institutions and other large corporations in a wide range of multi-party disputes and investigations, frequently involving a multi-jurisdictional element. This includes acting for clients in High Court litigation and arbitrations, and on internal, regulatory and criminal investigations, including investigations by prosecutors such as the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice. He also regularly advises clients in respect of their policies and procedures relating to the UK Bribery Act 2010 and the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017, including developing and testing compliance programmes. Chris has experience of working on the UK litigation aspects as part of a cross-office, cross-practice team advising a financial institution on a cybersecurity incident.

Chris has also worked in-house following secondments to the investigations and litigation teams of four separate financial institutions, including Bank of New York Mellon in 2019 and Lloyds Banking Group in 2014.

Chris is a member of the Fraud Lawyers’ Association and the Transparency International Professional Supporters network (TIPS).

Langues

  • Anglais

Expérience

In Corporate Crime and fraud matters Chris has:

  • Acted for listed client eOne, the leading Canada-based global mass media and entertainment company now part of the Hasbro toy conglomerate. Originally instructed to support an internal investigation into allegations of fraud arising out of currency trading, we were then instructed to act on the subsequent multi-million pound fraud claim in the High Court, which includes allegations of bribery, dishonesty, deceit, conspiracy and corruption.  The value of the claim was in excess of £18 million.  The Defendants were Monex Europe, a Foreign Exchange trading company, Prince Marwaha, eOne’s former treasurer, Inderjit Bhatti, eOne’s former assistant treasurer, and companies that Mr Bhatti incorporated. The Claimants settled the claims as against Mr Bhatti and the companies he incorporated in July 2020 and settled the claims against Monex and Mr Marwaha in January 2021, shortly after the exchange of witness statements and service of expert reports, and shortly before the five week trial was due to start on 1 March 2021.
  • Represented a listed multi-national corporate client in its internal investigation into allegations of fraud arising from foreign exchange transactions, and in the subsequent ongoing multi-million pound High Court litigation;
  • Represented a multi-national corporate client on a cross-border criminal investigation conducted jointly by the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice relating to events in the Caucasus;
  • Represented a UK corporate client on a cross-border criminal investigation conducted jointly by the UK Serious Fraud Office and the US Department of Justice relating to events in the Middle East; 
  • Represented a global financial institutional client in a multi-party, multi-jurisdictional dispute involving allegations of fraud in relation to a joint venture; 
  • Represented a nation state in Africa in a dispute where contracts were alleged to have been procured through bribery of state officials; 
  • Advised a global financial institution on the Bribery Act 2010 implications of commercial property investments in the Far East; and 
  • Advised domestic and international corporate clients in respect of their policies and procedures relating to the UK Bribery Act 2010 and the UK Criminal Finances Act 2017.

In litigation and arbitration matters Chris has:

  • Advised a global financial institution in relation to a data breach, including obtaining appropriate urgent injunctive relief against persons unknown responsible for the theft of data and implementing international process for compliance with notification and other obligations pursuant to GDPR and other relevant international standards.
  • Represented a nation state in the Middle East in an ICC arbitration arising out of a multi-billion dollar metropolitan rail project;
  • Represented an international franchisor in the High Court to recover unpaid fees and obtain injunctions to prevent the use of the franchisor's intellectual property in Cyprus;
  • Represented a senior creditor in a dispute relating to the construction of a hospital in the UK under the private finance initiative;
  • Represented a UK trading house in a multi-jurisdictional dispute involving contract, employment and immigration law issues;
  • Advised a European financial institution in a swaps close-out dispute; 
  • Represented the representative beneficiaries of a pension fund in relation to claims for rectification and alleged breach of the Trustee's duty of good faith;
  • Represented various financial institutions in respect of allegations of unfair credit card charges and mis-selling of payment protection insurance; and 
  • Represented various international airlines in relation to passenger claims.

Formation

Nottingham Law School, LPC

University of Nottingham, BA (Hons) Law with French

Inscription au Barreau

Barreau

  • England and Wales

Affiliations

 

  • Member of the Transparency International Professional Supporters network (TIPS)
  • Member of the Commercial Fraud Lawyers’ Association
  • Member of the Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association
  • Listed as a key lawyer for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime. (Legal 500 2024).
  • Listed as a key lawyer for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime, 'Chris Roberts - will surely be a partner in the future'. (Legal 500 2023).
  • Listed as a key lawyer for Commercial Litigation, Chris Roberts is an extremely energetic, intelligent and dynamic lawyer who works very fast and efficiently. (Legal 500 2022).
  • A 'Counsel to note', Chris Roberts is listed under 'Other key lawyers' for Fraud and Banking Litigation. (Legal 500 2020).