Philip Linton
Philip Linton

Philip Linton

Partner

London

+442078591113 | +44 782 3340 940
Philip.Linton@ashurstperkins.com

Introduction

Philip is a highly experienced and well-known financial services practitioner.

Philip is a highly experienced and well-known financial services practitioner. 

Philip joined Ashurst Perkins Coie after 12 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Managing Director and led the firm's EMEA Litigation and Contentious Regulatory team. Philip has significant experience in managing and advising on high profile domestic and cross-border wholesale financial services litigation, internal and regulatory investigations and related enforcement proceedings, across industry sectors, asset classes and geographies.

He regularly advises investment banks, principal dealers, hedge funds and asset managers on high-profile and cross-border issues involving equity capital markets, debt capital markets, M&A, FICC and equities, asset management, private wealth management, private equity and private credit. 

Philip's litigation practice focusses on wholesale financial services disputes and includes (i) assisting in the preparation, execution and aftermath of close-outs under Terms of Business, ISDAs, GMRAs, GMSLAs, etc.; (ii) dealing with day-to-day issues involving sales & trading, structuring and execution services disputes; (iii) investigations into disputed trades, misleading communications, mismarking of books, etc; and (iv) investment banking fee disputes.

Philip is also one of the top UK practitioners on market abuse. He regularly advises and trains financial services clients in relation to internal and regulatory investigations concerning alleged insider dealing, unlawful disclosure and market manipulation, and corporates and their financial advisors in relation to leak inquiries by the FCA and The Takeover Panel.

  • Investment banks – advising on numerous derivatives consensual unwinds and contested close-out disputes, including those arising from Lehman and the GFC, the Eurozone crisis, the Corona-virus pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine conflict, involving various illegality, force majeure and sanctions issues, market dislocation events, notices disputes, fund NAV decline triggers, the negative May WTI oil contract of April 2020, the LME nickel short-squeeze in March 2022, and the LDI spike in late 2022. 
  • Trading house - advising in High Court litigation on a large margin call and close-out dispute. The case focused on the pricing of certain equity index options in volatile market conditions and the closure of positions in the client’s margin trading account. 
  • Retail broker - advising in High Court litigation brought by a high-net-worth client alleging wrongful close-out of Russian depositary receipt positions amid market volatility and sanctions restrictions. 
  • Wealth platform - advising in High Court litigation concerning the close-out of customers' credit lines collateralized with their crypto and stablecoin positions.
  • Investment bank - advising on litigation concerning whether mezzanine lenders were entitled to a residual payment under the terms of a facility agreement, associated to the harvesting of a distressed real estate portfolio. 
  • Principal dealer – advising in regulatory enforcement proceedings regarding short selling and market-making exemptions.
  • Investment bank – advising in regulatory enforcement proceedings by the Payment Systems Regulator concerning Specific Direction 17.
  • Retail broker – advising in various cross-border regulatory investigations associated to the management of accounts held by persons alleged to be involved in a fraudulent investment scheme.
  • Investment bank – advising in exchange enforcement proceedings regarding pre-hedging on ex-change and via brokers of OTC block trades.
  • Investment firm – advising where the client's house and customer accounts with an Electronic Money Institution were blocked and ultimately released following an OIREQ imposed by the FCA.

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