Alastair Hopwood

ALASTAIR HOPWOOD focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, arbitration, and contentious regulatory work, including cross-border investigations. Alastair acts primarily for clients in the banking, financial services, insurance, and reinsurance sectors in relation to matters which are often multi-jurisdictional.

Alastair’s litigation experience includes acting for clients in disputes before the English High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, as well as in off-shore jurisdictions such as Bermuda. Alastair has also acted in respect of arbitrations pursuant to a range of institutional and ad hoc rules, including LCIA, UNCITRAL, and ICSID. Alastair has advised on the registration of foreign arbitration awards in the English courts as a precursor to enforcement and has experience applying the provisions of the New York Convention in relation to the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards in England. Alastair also has experience resolving disputes by way of mediation and adjudication.

Alastair has received acknowledgement from recent industry ranking guides:

• Legal 500 UK 2025 and 2026 – Recommended for Baking Litigation: Investment and Retail, and is named as a “Next Generation Partner” for Commercial Litigation: Premium.
• Legal 500 UK 2024 – Recommended for White-Collar Crime.
• Legal 500 UK 2022 and 2023 – Recognized for Banking Litigation and Commercial Litigation, and sources from the 2022 edition describe Alastair as a “very calm and strategic thinker.”

Representative matters include acting for:

Further representative matters include acting for:

• The defendant in an £83 million unlawful preference claim brought by the liquidator of a major electronics retailer in the English High Court.
• An individual in Commercial Court proceedings regarding the ownership of an investment management company and subsequent mediation.
• A leading international hedge fund (as secured creditor) to successfully resist an application under the Insolvency Act 1986 to remove Administrators (and other relief), brought by a property developer.
• An insurance broker in Commercial Court proceedings in respect of alleged professional negligence following the failure of insurers to indemnify under a professional indemnity insurance policy, various associated interim applications (including an application for security for costs), and subsequent mediation.
• A steel fabricating technologies company in arbitration proceedings against a Russian company for damages arising from non-acceptance of goods pursuant to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, and associated enforcement proceedings in Russia.
• A satellite navigation systems manufacturer in Commercial Court proceedings for non-payment of goods.
• An insurer in a trade mark infringement and passing off dispute before the Chancery Division.
• A bank in a Commercial Court dispute concerning potential fraud.

In addition to his litigation and arbitration practice, Alastair regularly advises clients in relation to matters arising from regulatory investigations and has experience of advising clients in the context of investigations by UK, EU, and U.S. regulators. His experience includes:

• Representing the Corporate Compliance Monitor of HSBC Holdings plc, who was appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in connection with a monitorship resulting from a US$1.9 billion resolution of money laundering and sanction violations.
• Assisting in conducting regulatory and commercial investigations for clients, including in relation to several Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and bribery investigations.
• Acting on behalf of an investment management company in respect of an internal investigation concerning potential regulatory offences, including insider trader and market manipulation.
• Acting for a large financial organization in relation to a multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigation into LIBOR.
• Acting on behalf of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in a technical investigation regarding the 2008 McLaren/Ferrari Formula One ‘spygate scandal’ and in the FIA’s investigation into Nelson Piquet Jnr’s deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.