Nik Yeo
Call date
2000
Practice Areas
Nik Yeo has a commercial practice, with a particular emphasis on complex finance litigation and arbitration, professional negligence (especially with a financial element) and insurance/reinsurance.
Current and recent instructions include acting for:
- Lehman Brothers Inc (the principal US Lehman entity) in various applications in the administration of Lehman Brothers International Europe
- HM Treasury, in conjunction with Slaughter and May, on finalisation of the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (the £300 billion+ scheme for protecting scheme banks against future losses on their riskiest assets)
- Terra Firma in the Box Clever securitisation trial (IXIS v WestLB, CIBC & Terra Firma)
- investment banks (such as, at present, Calyon and Société Générale) and for fund managers in numerous proceedings arising from structured financial products and derivatives (such as leveraged hedge fund platforms, complex foreign exchange transactions, commodity derivatives)
- a leading hedge fund in a confidential arbitration concerning an approximately $3 billion transaction
- an institutional investor in a Madoff feeder fund
- high street lenders (such as NatWest, Lloyds TSB, Barclays) in commercial lending disputes
- a large private utility in a series of disputes arising from a £2.38 billion securitisation
- an investor in a professional negligence suit arising out of an action brought by an investment bank against the investor claiming amounts due under “PRINS” (instruments giving exposure to refinanced Russian sovereign debt)
- Lloyd’s of London, brokers, insurers and reinsurers. Nik is familiar with Lloyd’s market practices and procedures.
These disputes involve allegations ranging from fraud, bribery and conspiracy, to breach of trust, to mismanagement and breach of contractual, tortious and fiduciary duties, to complex questions of contractual interpretation. They frequently also involve jurisdictional and choice of law issues, which are a particular interest of Nik’s.
He is regularly instructed by major City and national firms (such as, at present, Allen & Overy, Lovells, Ashurst, Norton Rose, Addleshaw Goddard, Nabarro), as well as directly by foreign law firms.
Nik Yeo has prior experience as a transactional solicitor practising in structured finance (including securitisations), project finance, derivatives, capital markets, collective instruments, hedge funds.
He regularly appears (led and unled) in arbitrations, Commercial Court and Chancery Division trials and in the Court of Appeal.
Recommendations (Practitioners' Guides)
Nik is recommended as a leading junior in Banking and Finance by Legal 500 (2009), in Professional Negligence by Chambers and Partners (2009) and as an expert in Banking in Legal Experts 2009. The directories state: “Nik Yeo wins support after having impressed in quality matters such as IXIS v Terra Firma & Ors”, and he is described as having a “user-friendly, and ‘get-stuck-in’ approach”.
Education
LLB (Hons), BA (Hons), Melbourne University
BCL, First Class honours, Oxford University
Other Experience
Nik Yeo is a CEDR Accredited Mediator.
He has published on legal professional privilege (B Thanki QC (ed) The Law of Privilege OUP, 2006) and conflict of laws (S Worthington (ed) Commercial Law and Commercial Practice Hart, 2003; also [2003] LMCLQ 525).
Nik undertakes work for the Bar Pro Bono Unit.