Since taking silk, Collingwood has specialised in cases involving international corruption and major white collar crime. He has a multi-jurisdictional practice with a focus on work in major offshore financial centres including Jersey and Hong Kong. He is ranked as a leading silk for criminal fraud by Chambers & Partners (2010), where his knowledge of mutual legal assistance is reported as 'second to none'.
His work in this field spans corruption, commercial fraud, money laundering, confiscation and asset recovery. He has appeared in many complex cases, both for the prosecution and the defence. Recently, Collingwood has been advising the Attorney General of Jersey on two large scale corruption and money laundering cases. The first concerned the ex-mayor of Sao Paulo in Brazil and the second (which is on-going), relates to relatives and associates of the late general Abacha of Nigeria. Both cases involve sums in excess of $250 million.
Collingwood also undertakes financial regulatory work. He has reported to the Jersey Financial Services Commission on the anti-money laundering procedures of a major bank. He was also appointed by the JFSC as a joint inspector to investigate concerns in relation to the collapse of split capital investment funds held in Jersey. Collingwood is currently acting for the promoters of a collective investment fund which it is hoped to restructure to avoid a winding-up.
He advises on mutual legal assistance matters and undertakes judicial review work.
Recent key cases
- HKSR v Gong & Ors (2008): defending the senior partner of a firm of solicitors accused with others of conspiring to defraud the shareholders of a listed company and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (ongoing)
- AG of Jersey v Blatchley & Adams: successfully defending £2.5 fraud
- AG of Jersey v O'Brien [2006] UKPC 14; (2006) 1 WLR 1485: representing the Attorney General of Jersey in a successful appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal of Jersey to set aside the verdict of the respondent
Contact Collingwood Thompson QC
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7242 3555
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7242 2511
Email: clerks@7br.co.uk