Overview
Alison was appointed Global Head of the Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations division in 2021 and is a member of Linklaters’ Executive Committee. She is ExCom champion for Diversabilities.
Alison specialises in contentious financial regulation, working closely with colleagues in the firm’s Financial Regulation Group, and on banking litigation and related public law. She routinely advises market-leading financial institutions on their most significant Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) enforcement investigations, as well as on a range of internal investigations. She has extensive retail banking experience. She has also advised clients under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and overseas enforcement agencies. Alison’s contentious regulatory experience includes pre-enforcement and risk advisory work, often helping clients through section 166 Financial Services and Markets Act reviews, thematic reviews and FCA executive procedures.
Alison is listed as a leading individual in Legal 500 as part of Linklaters’ tier 1 contentious regulatory practice, was previously rated one of Global Investigation’s Review’s 40 under 40 investigations lawyers.
Alison’s extensive bank sector knowledge has been supplemented by three secondments to the in-house litigation teams of both RBS and Barclays.
Work highlights
Alison has acted for clients on a wide range of disputes and investigations. Those that can be disclosed include:
- Advising UK’s largest motor finance provider on all matters relating to the ongoing motor finance commissions review and litigation
- Acting for a UK retail bank on a KYC and transaction monitoring enforcement investigation
- Acting for a global investment bank on an arbitration arising out of Russian sanctions
- Acting for the London branch of a European bank on an enforcement investigation into AML and financial crime systems and controls
- Acting for two major UK retail banks in connection with enforcement investigations into their arrears handling systems and controls, including making use of the FCA’s focused resolution procedure
- Acting for a leading UK general insurer on an enforcement investigation into communication with customers at renewal
- Acting on a number of internal investigations and an enforcement investigation relating to culture and conduct
- Regularly advising on public law remedies in the context of customer complaints
- Acting for Barclays Bank at all stages, including the Court of Appeal, in R (Holmcroft Properties Limited) v KPMG (judicial review about duties owed by a “skilled person” appointed under section 166 Financial Services and Markets Act) and on its customer remediation programme in connection with the sale of interest rate hedging products to SMEs
- Acting for a major UK retail bank on an FCA enforcement investigation into PPI complaints handling
- Acting for a UK lender on a sensitive SFO investigation arising out of the financial crisis
Education
Alison studied Law and German law at Warwick University.
Published works
Contributing author, GIR’s Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations
