Collingwood specialises in cases involving international corruption and major white collar crime. He has a multi-jurisdictional practice with a focus on major offshore financial centres including Jersey and Hong Kong. He is ranked as a leading silk for criminal fraud by Chambers & Partners (2008).
Collingwood's 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. These include Butte Mining (a sophisticated stock market flotation fraud), Swithland Motors (a £25 million fraud uncovered as a result of a failed stock market flotation designed to cover up a large trading deficit) and the Brittania Park fraud.
More recently, Collingwood has been engaged by the Attorney General for Jersey to advise on two large scale corruption and money laundering cases, which have involved extensive international co-operation. The first concerned the Ex-Mayor of Sao Paulo in Brazil, 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. For example, he was instructed by the Jersey Financial Services Commission to report 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 is particularly experienced in financial investigatory work, advising on the strategy, prospects and tactics for an investigation, providing "skilled persons" reports and taking proceedings through the courts. He has advised on mutual legal assistance matters, conducting interviews under compulsory powers and appeared in judicial review challenges to the scope of financial investigations.
Contact Collingwood Thompson QC
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7242 3555
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7242 2511
Email: clerks@7br.co.uk