Banking

With expertise in all areas of the Financial Conduct field, QEB Hollis Whiteman is uniquely well placed to provide the complete range of support to those in the Banking arena. It does so to a vast client base with complex and diverse needs.

Overview

Unperturbed by complexity, density and sometimes time-worn contentions, regulators and Financial Crime investigators on both sides of the Atlantic continue to press ahead with their investigations. In recent years, we have seen a sizeable increase in city professionals identified as suspects, named on indictments and penalised by regulators. UK and US investigative agencies have experienced a mix of successes and defeats of late, but their increasing sophistication and depth of investigations continue.

Furthermore, the 2016 senior managers regime has brought a new dynamic in which the Financial Conduct Authority foresees 'actions against senior managers [being] harder to resolve by agreement'.

QEB Hollis Whiteman’s proficiency in the Financial Conduct field is borne of the many occasions we have advised and represented individuals, companies, financial institutions, prosecuting agencies and regulatory bodies.

Our Experience

Members of Chambers have experience of prosecuting and defending in Banking within every type of tribunal, at every tier. We have experience of each of the unique processes at every stage. 

Chambers has been involved in high-profile and pioneering cases with members of all levels of seniority. We were instructed on both sides of the courtroom in R v Hind & Others emanating from Operation Tabernula, the Financial Conduct Authority’s 'biggest insider trading investigation in UK history', placing traders and directors in the dock. We have advised and represented individuals in benchmark manipulation investigations. We spearheaded a vast Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) attestation programme for a major global bank, have undertaken a compliance checking programme for another and have provided counsel to advise on connected issues to a third. A number of QEB Hollis Whiteman’s barristers have worked inside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on complex banking cases and are instructed by the SFO in a banking rights issue investigation. We regularly advise bankers and represent them throughout FCA Enforcement Investigations and associated proceedings in the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC), Upper Tribunal and High Court.

Our barristers can advise at all stages, and can assist with UK and/or US discussions on deferred or non-prosecution agreements, having represented parties in both of the first two UK DPAs.

A number of Members of Chambers contribute to Fraud: Law, Practice and Procedure and Blackstone's Guide to the Bribery Act 2010 as well as contributing to consultations and providing seminars in this field of law.

QEB Hollis Whiteman’s Banking team is sought out for its multifaceted skill set and generous strength in depth.