Speakers

Catherine Gibaud KC, 3VB

Catherine is an experienced commercial litigator, specialising in banking and finance, financial services and regulation, civil fraud, group litigation, corporate insolvency and fraudulent trading disputes, and professional negligence & indemnity work. She is recommended as a leading silk in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500.

Catherine has particular experience in disputes involving misleading statements to investors and the mis-selling of complex financial products and derivatives.

As part of her contentious regulatory practice, Catherine acts for individuals, regulated firms and regulatory bodies. Catherine has been instructed by regulators including FCA, FRC, and GFSC (Guernsey Financial Services Commission). Before taking silk, Catherine was regularly instructed for the Government (on the Attorney General’s panels) in Directors’ Disqualification proceedings and for the Secretary of State in winding up companies in the public interest under s124A Insolvency Act.

In 2018, Catherine was appointed to the part-time role of Senior Decision Maker by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. In cases appointed to them, Senior Decision Makers, sitting alone, determine the outcome of the Commission’s major enforcement cases.

Felicity Ewing, partner and head of financial services disputes, Dentons UK

Felicity Ewing is a partner in Dentons’ UK Disputes practice. She advises on complex, high-value litigation in the financial services sector including matters involving regulatory issues. Felicity has particular expertise in group action defence in the banking and consumer finance fields.

Tom Hanson, disputes partner, Dentons UK

Tom Hanson is a partner in Dentons’ UK Disputes practice, specialising in financial services and regulatory litigation. He advises banks, corporates and public bodies on complex, high-value disputes and enforcement matters, with particular expertise in defending group and collective actions across competition, banking and consumer contexts.

Tom Leyland, disputes partner, Dentons UK

Thomas Leyland is a partner in Dentons’ UK Disputes practice in London. He acts for banks and financial services institutions in high-value, high-profile High Court disputes. Thomas has also significant experience coordinating cross-border litigation.

Saima Hanif KC, 3VB

Saima Hanif KC is a is a global expert in financial services. Described as someone who “… is quickly becoming the dominant force in FSR [Financial Services Regulation], both domestically and abroad…” (Legal 500) she is listed in the legal directories across the UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific, where she is recognised for her “excellent judgement”, being “technically very gifted” and who has “great knowledge of the FS industry.”

She has appeared in a number of high-profile enforcement cases, including Rollet v DFSA (where she obtained a rare privacy order in the Dubai FMT) T & I v FCA, where she acted for the claimants in a rare successful judicial review of the FCA, and Tinney v FCA, an Upper Tribunal decision which set a new precedent on penalties.

She was retained counsel for the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and has also acted for the PRA (e.g. the recent Wyeland Bank, Hunter and Hambro enforcement decisions), the FRC and the FSCS.

She sits part-time as a Justice in the Astana International Financial Court and as a Senior Decision Maker in Guernsey, where she hears contested FS enforcement cases. She has a particular expertise in matters at the intersection of financial services, sanctions and public law.

Saima was listed in the Global 2025 100 Women in Investigations review, and was named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 list in 2022, recognising stand-out excellence in the legal profession.

Anthony Monaghan, director of retail and regulatory investigations, FCA

Anthony is the Director responsible for all consumer protection and retail markets Enforcement investigations at the FCA (regulatory, civil and criminal), as well as the FCA’s Interventions function and the team engaging with firms not meeting Threshold Conditions. His Directorate also conducts a significant number of investigations into matters relating to financial crime.

Investigations are conducted in a range of sectors including crypto assets, retail banking, general insurance, fund and asset management, mortgage broking and lending, pensions, financial advice, and client money and assets.

Anthony joined the FCA after several years as a litigator at Herbert Smith LLP (now Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer). Prior to that Anthony spent 5 years at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), an organisation that specialises in resolving commercial disputes through alternative dispute resolution, and particularly mediation. He is an Accredited Commercial Mediator and joint editor of the book Butterworths Mediators on Mediation.


Claire Cross, partner, Corker Binning

Claire is an experienced lawyer in all areas of white-collar law, with particular expertise in criminal, regulatory and disciplinary cases relating to financial services.

Prior to joining Corker Binning, Claire spent a number of years as a Senior Lawyer at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the Enforcement Division, advising and prosecuting the full spectrum of enforcement action. Claire has considerable and proven experience in complex FCA criminal and regulatory investigations, money laundering, fraud, bribery/corruption, asset forfeiture and cartel cases. Her practice includes cross-border investigations and prosecutions where she advises both suspects and witnesses. She also regularly acts for individuals in corporate investigations.

Claire’s prior experience at the FCA and CMA has given her an invaluable insight into the investigation and decision-making procedures and policies employed by regulatory and prosecutorial authorities in both the UK and US, which she effectively deploys to her clients’ advantage.

Katie Stephen, partner, co-head of the contentious financial services group, London, Norton Rose Fulbright

Katie Stephen is a financial services lawyer based in London.
Katie has over 30 years’ experience of advising financial institutions during which she has acted on a wide range of litigation and contentious regulatory matters. She has successfully defended a financial institution against group litigation and represented a number of clients in tax-related disputes. She also advises on investigations and enforcement proceedings involving the FCA, PRA, Ofgem, FRC, AIM, ICE, SRA, NCA and HMRC, as well as regulators in other jurisdictions. She regularly acts for regulated firms, corporates and senior management on regulatory issues such as market abuse, market disclosures, money laundering, retail mis-selling, consumer credit, conflicts of interest, ESG, corporate governance, systems and controls, individual accountability and notifications.
Katie has extensive experience of supporting clients with skilled person (s.166) reviews and on the conduct of internal investigations including in relation to lessons learned reviews and the design and implementation of redress and remediation programmes. She has also advised the regulator on investigation and enforcement matters and twice been seconded to the FCA as legal adviser to its Regulatory Decisions Committee. Katie is praised by clients as “a top choice for a tough fight” who “delivers to a high standard” and “understands the issues clients face” (Chambers).

Sarah Mant, managing associate, Penningtons Manches Cooper

Sarah, Managing Associate in London’s employment team and Legal 500 ‘Rising Star,’ specialises in financial services employment law. She advises on regulatory obligations, whistleblowing, equality and discrimination, and non‑financial misconduct. Trusted by corporates and executives, she delivers pragmatic guidance to resolve disputes, protect reputations, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

Michael Brown, partner, commercial disputes, Penningtons Manches Cooper

Michael, joint head of the Financial Services Sector, is a partner specialising in complex financial disputes, regulatory investigations and civil fraud. He achieves successful outcomes for funds, banks, investors and corporates, notably acting on Quincecare in Philipp v Barclays Bank before the Supreme Court. Ranked Leading Individual, his expertise secures clients’ best results.

Teja Picton-Howell, senior consultant, Penningtons Manches Cooper

Teja, senior consultant and head of financial services regulatory practice, advises on UK, EU and international regulation, investments, M&A, banking and capital markets. With 35+ years’ experience, he guides cross border transactions, delivers expert legal opinions, and applies sharp commercial acumen to help businesses expand, invest and resolve disputes globally.

Tom Walker, partner, Pennington Manches Cooper

Tom, partner leading the firm’s financial regulatory practice, advises boards and senior executives on SMCR, regulatory conduct, whistleblowing, confidentiality and discrimination. He represents financial services clients in complex employment disputes, guiding mergers, dismissals and investigations, and is recognised as a trusted first port of call for boardroom and regulatory matters.

Adam Temple, barrister, 3VB

Adam specialises in financial services regulatory actions, as well as banking, insurance, cryptoassets and other commercial disputes. He has been recommended for many years as a leading junior in both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, and was Legal 500’s Financial Services and Insurance Junior of the Year 2023.

In recent years, Adam has represented the FCA in three cryptocurrency permission cases (Gidiplus; Vladimir Consulting; and Moneybrain); civil claims for breach of the general prohibition (Avacade; Forster); and upper tribunal references by the subjects of regulatory action (Fox-Bryant; Burdett). He has also appeared for and against the regulators in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Jill Lorimer, partner, Kingsley Napley

Jill is a partner in Kingsley Napley’s Financial Services Group, specialising in the provision of criminal and regulatory advice to FCA-regulated firms and individuals.

She has over 15 years’ experience in advising firms facing supervisory scrutiny, enforcement investigations and regulatory proceedings, from the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) stage to the Upper Tribunal. She regularly conducts internal investigations on behalf of regulated firms where adverse issues come to light. A significant part of her practice is the provision of practical and pragmatic advice in relation to all aspects of the Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SM&CR) including conduct rules breaches, regulatory references and issues around fitness and propriety, with a particular focus on non-financial misconduct.

Jill also advises senior managers and certified persons caught up in investigations into potential breaches of FCA Rules and Principles. She has vast experience in advising individuals – both within and outside the regulated sector – who are facing investigation and / or prosecution by the FCA for criminal offences. Her particular specialism is in representing those being prosecuted for insider dealing, including two clients who faced insider dealing charges in large, complex prosecutions. Both were acquitted on all counts.

Jill is ranked as a leading partner and Band 1 individual in the major directories for her contentious regulatory work.

Michael Evans, joint managing director, Byfield

Michael is Joint Managing Director of Byfield. He is responsible for helping clients with their most sensitive special situations and strategic communications, as well as thought leadership programmes and litigation PR matters.

Michael is a highly-respected and well-connected PR professional with 15 years of experience in house at leading law firms Herbert Smith Freehills and then Baker McKenzie, where he was EMEA Head of Communications, working closely with global and regional leadership on corporate communications for the firm’s 35 EMEA offices in 25 countries. He started his career with Euromoney Institutional Investor, where he was a journalist and then editor writing about international capital markets and financial services regulation.

During his career, Michael has developed and led many high-profile thought leadership campaigns and held global responsibilities for multiple practice groups and innovation-related communications. He is also one of the leading PR professionals in London for professional services firms facing complex reputational risks.

As well as working with law firms and barristers, Michael counts legal technology providers, forensic accountants and private equity portfolio companies and funds among his clients.