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Simon Orton

Partner & Co-head Financial Institutions Group

Commercial litigation | ESG and sustainability | Financial services | Investigations | Mass claims |

He plays a fabulous hand, can deal with whatever he's dealt and is absolutely unflappable.

Chambers UK 2022

Profile details

About Simon Orton

Simon is a partner in our dispute resolution practice, a co-head of the firm's financial institutions group and sits on the firm’s global sustainability leadership team.

He acts for clients on complex disputes and investigations, including regulatory enforcement action. Much of his work is with financial institutions (such as retail and investment banks, payment services providers and asset managers), though he also regularly works with financial sponsors and corporate clients.

He works on high-profile matters, and his cases often involve complex financial products or markets, large scale consumer issues, governance and controls (including in areas such as AML/ financial crime, sanctions, cyber-security controls and whistleblowing), or shareholder/ investor and M&A disputes. 

Simon likes to work closely with clients facing acute problems to find the best route through their immediate issues and help them deal with the consequences. Typically, those consequences span a number of internal and external stakeholders – including senior management, regulators and customers. He often advises on related governance, management responsibility, culture and controls issues and, increasingly, sustainability including litigation and regulatory risks.

Recent work

  • Representing significant financial institutions in relation to regulatory action brought by the FCA.

  • Acting for a number of major financial institutions on UK and cross border litigation relating to the sale of structured products and trading in/ the close out of derivatives.

  • Advising a major corporate on regulatory investigations, claims and class action litigation spanning multiple European jurisdictions.
  • Acting for a significant financial institution in US regulatory investigations and UK litigation relating to loans made to the Republic of Mozambique.
  • Assisting financial sponsors and investors with various shareholder disputes.
  • Advising leading global banks and their senior executives and Board directors on matters relating to governance and the responsibilities of senior management.
  • Advising various banks, insurers and investors on matters relating to sustainability including litigation and regulatory risks.

Publications