Mr Francis Tregear KC > Chambers of Elspeth Talbot Rice KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
XXIV Old Buildings Offices
XXIV Old Buildings
24 OLD BUILDINGS, LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3UP
England
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Mr Francis Tregear KC
Position
Francis Tregear KC is valued for his comprehensive and detailed understanding of the commercial and financial issues and realities affecting his clients. He is acknowledged as an extremely effective advocate in court as well as on paper. This has made him a popular choice for all types of business disputes and civil fraud claims involving complex issues of fact, law and forensic accountancy.
A very significant proportion of his work is international in nature and he has a sterling reputation for his international expertise. He has acted and advised in many offshore jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands, BVI, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Cyprus and the Isle of Man. He is called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean. His pre-eminence in multi-jurisdictional disputes involves him in strategy, interim remedies including freezing injunctions, conflicts of law, asset tracing and recovery.
Career
Call: 1980 | Silk: 2003
Languages
Fluent French.
Memberships
- Member of the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
- Chancery Bar Association [Member of the Committee]
- COMBAR
- Professional Negligence Bar Association
- European Circuit
Education
BA (Cantab) (St John’s College)
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Private client: trusts and probate
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Francis Tregear KC –XXIV Old Buildings ‘Francis is hugely experienced, yet down to earth and a team player. He is a brilliant advocate.’
London Bar > Company
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Francis Tregear KC – XXIV Old Buildings ‘Francis provides precise advice and has an ability to cut through to the main issue.’
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 5Francis Tregear KC –XXIV Old Buildings ‘Precise advice and an ability to cut through to the main issue.’
‘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.
London Bar > Fraud: civil
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Francis Tregear KC –XXIV Old Buildings ‘Clear, client-oriented and a mastermind – one of the best KCs around.’
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4Francis Tregear KC –XXIV Old Buildings ‘Very good advocacy. Unruffled and easy to deal with.’
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.
London Bar > Insolvency
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3XXIV 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.
The English Bar Offshore > The English Bar Offshore
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Francis Tregear KC –XXIV Old Buildings ‘Francis is a user-friendly silk. He is well-versed in the law and able to relate to clients and instructing lawyers very easily. He is adept at explaining complex legal points in layman’s terms. His advocacy is well-prepared, calm and persuasive.’