Mr Francis Tregear KC > Chambers of Elspeth Talbot Rice KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

‘A leading commercial and Chancery set with a strong offshore presence‘, XXIV Old Buildings consistently acts in high-stakes commercial disputes occurring throughout the world; and in addition to the set’s enviable international arbitration, insolvency and civil fraud credentials, clients additionally benefit from members’ complementary specialisms in partnership, trusts, professional negligence and aviation law.  Highlights include Elspeth Talbot Rice KC acting for the ninth, tenth and eleventh defendants in a proprietary claim to the assets of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky’s insolvent estate. In The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan, Francis Tregear KC represents a Swiss investment bank in relation to a claim for over $800m that alleges bribery and money laundering against a former investment manager and several international banks and intermediaries. In March 2023, Adam Cloherty KC, who recently acted for the claimant in Akers and others v Samba, a large-value case against a Saudi bank that raised fundamental issues on whether a common law trust can be created over civil law assets, took silk.

XXIV Old Buildings has a substantial banking and financial practice developed over three core areas, including hedge fund and structured investment vehicle work, international insolvencies involving banks and financial institutions, and claims against financial institutions relating to financial mismanagement. Stephen Moverley Smith KC has a practice spanning international litigation, especially those involving the BVI and Bermuda – he represented the defendant in Ivanishvilli v CS Life, a claim arising from a rogue trader fraud at a Swiss bank, with proceedings brought against its Bermudian subsidiary alleging a failure to discover the fraud – the claimant being former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Francis Tregear KC is noted for his ‘very good advocacy‘, and Sarah Bayliss  has extensive experience of acting in mis-selling and negligence claims against financial institutions.

XXIV Old Buildings deals with domestic and international insolvency and restructuring cases, with members such as Elspeth Talbot Rice KC instructed on high profile liquidations and insolvencies such as the case of Gorbunova v Berezovsky where she acted for the trustees in the bankruptcy of Boris Berezovsky’s insolvent estate agent against which estate a proprietary, and other, claims are being made by the former partner of the Russian businessman, who died in suspicious circumstances in Berkshire in 2013. Stephen Moverley Smith KC and Francis Tregear KC are noted for their cross-border practice, often being instructed by clients in the Cayman Islands.