Charlotte has a particular specialism in financial services disputes including but not limited to acting for banks, pension funds, asset managers and insurers in commercial litigation and in relation to contentious regulatory matters involving regulatory authorities such as the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”), the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Pensions Ombudsman and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme amongst others. Charlotte is sought after as a Leading Junior in Banking and Financial Services (including consumer credit) (Legal 500 2025) and (Legal 500 2026).
Charlotte regularly acts as sole counsel on a range of matters. She also has extensive experience in acting in large multi-disciplinary teams by virtue of her experience of being an employed barrister at the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, and multinational award-winning law firm, Pinsent Masons LLP.
Charlotte is passionate about advocacy which is why she has taught pupils and new practitioners internationally through the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn for over half a decade.
Charlotte is also an ACCA Legal Advisor as part of her broader disciplinary and regulatory practice.
Charlotte accepts appointments as a mediator and an arbitrator. She also accepts instructions on a direct access basis and/or to provide advice on non-contentious matters, notably as they relate to financial services and regulatory matters. Charlotte has a particular interest in digital assets including cryptocurrencies.
Charlotte is proud to be of Vincentian heritage and entitled to Vincentian nationality meaning that she can be admitted to the Bars of several Caribbean countries to practise law generally. Charlotte often works on matters arising from the Caribbean, in particular the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and St Vincent and the Grenadines and is keen to continue to develop her practice in this regard.
Charlotte is also Chambers’ Pro Bono Champion in association with the Bar’s National Pro Bono Charity Advocate (https://weareadvocate.org.uk/)
Recent cases of interest:
Charlotte’s cases and matters of note in the sphere of Banking & Finance include but are not limited to:
Charlotte regularly provides advice in respect of Banking & Finance for example in relation to:
Charlotte’s interest in Cyber & Crypto arose around a decade ago when she was working at the Bank of England on the interaction between digital assets and the financial system notably by reference to fiat currency. Charlotte continues to undertake advisory and contentious work in this space and seeks to develop her practice further. Recent and ongoing notable matters include:
Charlotte has consistently maintained an international element to her practice and is content to travel as necessary. Current matters of note include:
Derivatives & Financial Product Litigation
Charlotte has extensive experience of acting for a range of some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Her work experience encompasses the full gamut of financial services matters including advising about ISDA contracts, LIBOR transition, the CHAPS high value payment system, central bank issued digital currency and access to central bank liquidity facilities. Charlotte is also one of very few lawyers in private practice that has in-depth and extensive knowledge of the Bank of England’s Note Circulation Scheme and Scottish and Northern Ireland Notes regime.
Acting for a claimant against a major national bank in relation to payments made out of the claimant’s bank account whilst the claimant may not have had mental capacity.
Advising a leading insurer on a compensation scheme worth over £250 million relating to the historic miss-selling of defined benefit pension schemes.
She advised and conducted an investigation for an FCA regulated firm into balance discrepancies worth approximately £40 million in just over 1 million customer accounts. Potential issues of fraud, regulatory enforcement by the FCA and other regulators and satellite litigation by customers
Acting for a reinsurer in relation to alleged breaches of contracts by insurers worth millions concerning life products giving rise to arbitration.
Acting for a consumer claimant in respect of declinature of insurance cover and corresponding potential professional negligence on the part of the claimant’s former solicitors.
Commercial and Commercial Chancery Litigation
Charlotte has been involved in commercial and commercial chancery litigation at an appellate level, in the High Court and in the County Courts
Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse International & Ors [2024] EWHC 1957 (Comm)
Acting for Andrew Pearse in a multi-billion dollar civil fraud claim.
Successfully acting for the claimant by securing a substantial settlement from a foreign defendant in relation to a claim about a breach of an exclusive distribution agreement.
Successfully seeking injunctive relief for a director seeking to prevent their co-director from misappropriating company funds pending the determination of an unfair prejudice petition.
Successfully resisting a winding up petition for a Vincentian International Business Company.
Acting for a defendant in a multi-million pound case concerning money had and received, breach of a commercial lease and allegations of conversion.
Acted for a corporate seeking a non-party costs order pursuant to CPR 46.2 in a multi-jurisdictional case.
Acting for a corporate respondent resisting a security for costs application in the context of a civil fraud claim worth almost £1m.
Acting for the Claimant/Applicant seeking an anti-suit injunction in respect of proceedings instituted in California and Israel in breach of contract.
Successfully obtained a freezing injunction for an applicant in the Bahamas in a US$3M claim.
Acting for a pension trustee and pension administrator in a complex third party debt order.
Maddox RP LLP v Grey GR Limited Partnership
A multi-million pound dispute about the acquisition of ground rents as investments by one of the UK’s largest pension funds.
Caitlin Syndicate Ltd v Amec Foster Wheeler USA Corp [2020] EWHC 2530
Which was an anti-suit injunction concerning a PI insurance claim relating to $1.5 billion bet the company lawsuit in the US.
SM Life Ventures vs Susan Morrice et al Claim No NEVHC 2011/0162
which was heard in the British Virgin Islands.
Acting for one of the UK’s major energy suppliers in a contractual dispute relating to financial products worth over £3M resulting in a mediation.
Charlotte currently actively studying for her ICAEW accredited Certificate in Insolvency at present so that she has pragmatic experience and understanding akin to an IP to complement her practice.
Charlotte is currently acting in an unfair prejudice claim where the solvency of the 3 of the corporate entities involved, and which are owned in a familial Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries quasi-partnership, are subject to insolvency concerns resulting in advice and consideration of the s.127 of the Insolvency Act.
Successfully representing an International Business Company incorporated in St Vincent and Grenadines and its directors in March this year in respect of a winding petition and connected bankruptcy proceedings. This work included the initial preparation of an antecedent validation order pursuant to s.127 of the Insolvency Act 1986 which ultimately proved to be unnecessary in the end due to the winding up petition being stayed. Charlotte also fended off arguments from opposing counsel about the avoidance of property dispositions by the company pursuant to s.127 as part of successfully having the winding petition dismissed in respect of a claim worth around £1M.
Acting for an individual in respect of bankruptcy petition presented against him that Charlotte assisted him in successfully resisting. There were a number of connecting insolvency matters relating to Charlotte’s client’s companies arising out of dispositions meaning that s.127 of the Insolvency Act 1986 was relevant as was the related s.284 of the Insolvency Act 1986 as it relates to bankrupts dealing with property during the presentation of a petition and the vesting of the bankrupt’s estate in the bankruptcy trustee.
Acting for a TopCo and SubCo owned and controlled by a high net worth individual and resisting the advertisement of a winding up petition for the companies on the basis that it would be an abuse of the Court’s process and would do irreparable harm to the alleged Debtor in connection with debts purportedly worth around £780M.
Successfully restraining the presentation of a winding up petition in the context of multi-million pound dispute between two construction businesses.
Charlotte acted in part of the long-running Dr Guy v Brakes dispute (see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10707063/Couple-face-eviction-7m-home-four-year-court-fight-millionaire-cannabis-tycoon.html for background) which involved consideration of s.127 and s.284 Insolvency Act issues, the impact of mental health crisis and breathing space moratoriums and injunctive relief being sought against a regulated pension fund.
Civil fraud, financial services and insolvency often go hand in hand as such many of the matters on which Charlotte has worked on including the £1.4 billion SKAT litigation during her time at Pinsent Masons LLP before returning to self-employed practice concern insolvency issues and the improper disposition of property and/or prevention of the same.
Charlotte’s financial services work has included a heavy diet of professional negligence matters such as acting for a global insurance broker defending a professional negligence claim made by a client in relation to obtaining a death in service benefit scheme for all employees worth approximately £700,000. Current matters of note include:
Charlotte’s experience in civil fraud matters has included working on the Republic of Mozambique litigation and SKAT litigation where she was part of the team acting the foreign tax authority Claimant in a $2.4billion claim multijurisdictional claim it is bringing against a number of Defendants for civil fraud, breach of contract and negligence.
Charlotte is currently acting for a director and pension scheme accused of undertaking a pensions liberation scam by way of dishonest assistance of breach of trust.
Charlotte is also presently acting for 4 Defendants in a multimillion pound international civil fraud and insolvency claim relating to the ownership of software which integrates blockchains to facilitate capital markets transactions.
Charlotte successfully acted pro bono for a Claimant in cryptocurrency civil fraud case concerning the tort for deceit, failure of basis and unlawful means conspiracy.
Administrative, Constitutional & Public
Charlotte’s previous work in the public sector means that public law has been a major part of her practice notably advice about engaging with public sector decision-makers and judicial review together with more niche areas such as select committee powers and electoral law such as Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. As regards decision-makers Charlotte worked on setting up the Bank’s Enforcement Decision Making Committee, which was established in August 2018 in response to HM Treasury recommendations.
Charlotte has experience of inquiries, investigations and collective redress schemes undertaken in the private and public sector.
Advised one of the UK’s largest financial institutions about litigation risk and regulatory enforcement risk arising from its interactions with the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Part of the legal team working on the City of Edinburgh Council’s independent inquiry into how it handled complaints about the conduct of an employee who took his own life after being charged with serious sexual offences.
Charlotte is able to accept instructions directly from members of the public, companies and other entities through the public access scheme (also known as direct access). She is able to advise and draft pleadings and documents for individuals and small and medium sized businesses on a direct access basis. She is happy to accept instructions on a direct basis in appropriate cases. If you wish to instruct Charlotte on a direct basis, please speak to the practice managers.
For more information on public access, please see the Bar Council website.
Please contact us either by telephone: +44 (0)20 7415 7800 or email: clerks@3harecourt.com
