Thomas Lowe KC

Commercial disputes

Tom has combined an extensive practice in the field for company and insolvency work with a regular case load in the field of civil fraud and asset tracing.

His reported cases range from well-known decisions in the insolvency field such as the landmark case Wight v Eckhardt Marine and Dextra v Bank of Jamaica a well-known decision of the Privy Council by Lord Goff on the limits of the change of position defence. Over the years he has acted in a number of cases involving corporate fraud, breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties or claims for secret profits.

He has been heavily involved in many of the long-running offshore liquidations of foreign banks such as Kaupthing (Isis v Kaupthing in Iceland, the UK and Isle of Man)the relevant claims arising from its securitisation of loans with one of its well-known customers. He has acted for a number of years in billion dollar cases for the major shareholders and owners of Latin American banks in, cases such as Bancredito in the Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic as well as, Banco Economico (Cayman Islands and Brazil).

Over the years practising offshore, Tom has had a prominent role in numerous hedge funds disputes.

• Lunan Pharmaceutical Group Limited (2021 – 2022 ongoing) – a long running dispute regarding the ownership of shares in a significant PRC pharmaceutical company. Involved the BVI Court’s ability to effectively adjudicate complex cross-border commercial disputes involving PRC assets and wide ranging questions of both BVI and PRC law.
• He acted for the liquidator in Re Sphinx (Cayman Islands), a controversial liquidation arising from the collapse of a well-known prime brokerage house.
• He has defending fund professionals in Re Oracle Fund (Bahamas) arising from the collapse of a fund investing in sub-prime US debt.
• He has acted on behalf of creditors in Lancelot and Palm Beach (Cayman Islands), the liquidation of the main feeder funds involved in the SU$10 billion Petters fraud.
• He defended the managers and fund entities in Gottex v New Stream (Bermuda) the first reported case on the winding up of segregated portfolio companies.
• He acted on behalf of creditors in Re Wyser-Pratt one of the first cases to explore the alternatives to winding up under local insolvency law (Cayman Islands).
• He has acted for liquidators ,in the context of hedge fund restructuring in Belmont Finance (Cayman Islands), Medley Opportunity Fund (Cayman Islands), many of which were associated with fraud or asset tracing.

Over the years Tom has often found himself instructed in large well-known fraud and asset tracing cases in the UK. For example, he acted for the plaintiff in Bottin v Venson, and on behalf of one the defendants in the Phillips v Symes saga liquidators in Kaupthing v Isis. He is currently instructed in AHAB v SAAD, a multibillion claim relating to a complex, cross-border fraud before the Courts of the Cayman Islands. Tom’s knowledge of civil fraud work enabled him recently successfully to defend a US $1bn bribery claim arising out of the supply of defence equipment in the civil courts in the Cayman Islands as well as fending off a criminal proceedings in the UK in judicial review proceedings.

His technical knowledge of company law, financial services and partnerships has meant that he has frequently been called upon to give evidence in the US, in states including New York, California, Texas and the Carolinas. He is currently retained as an expert on UK law in the BP securities litigation in Texas arising from the gulf oil spill.

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