Mark Beswetherick

Full Profile

Mark Beswetherick is a Senior Equity Partner specialising in litigation and investigations involving company directors & officers, professional services firms and financial institutions.

Mark spent a significant part of his career (2008 to 2022) based in Dubai and for many years was Head of Clyde & Co's market-leading Dispute Resolution Group (ranked Band 1 by Legal 500 and Chambers).  Mark is recognised by Legal 500 as a "Leading Individual" for arbitration and international litigation, noted in particular for his "professional negligence expertise, representing Big Four accounting firms and elite law firms".  Mark is separately ranked (Chambers Band 2) for handling corporate and regulatory investigations.

Experience

Directors’ and officers’ liability: defending directors and senior managers against regulatory investigations and/or civil actions for breach of directors' duties and/or as authorised/approved individuals).

• Successfully defending the CEO of the DIFC branch of an investment bank against a regulatory investigation by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) relating to money laundering compliance and unregulated activities;
• Defence of a director in English High Court proceedings arising from a dispute with a co-director and shareholders;
• Successful defence of the former directors of a failed investment bank against the first derivative shareholder action in the DIFC Courts seeking $18m in damages arising from alleged breaches of duty and misfeasance (Diwan Capital Limited (In Liquidation) v various directors CFI 004/2013);
• Successfully defending the CEO of a DIFC investment management firm following a regulatory investigation by the DFSA into alleged market manipulation.

Defending negligence claims and investigations against a range of professional services firms, including accountants, auditors, consultants and law firms.

• Acting for a Big-4 accounting firm in the defence of criminal investigations and high-value civil claims in Qatar arising from audits of a client engaged in a complex fraud involving UK property assets; 
• Acting for a Big-4 accounting firm following the collapse of the Abraaj Group in its defence of a DFSA investigation and proceedings before the Financial Markets Tribunal arising from the firm’s conduct of audits;
• Successful defence (leading to withdrawal) of a $450m negligence claim against a firm of consultants arising from its conduct of an investigation for Saudi authorities into the collapse of a listed Saudi construction firm (Mohammad Al Mojil v Protiviti CFI-020-2015);
• Successful defence (leading to withdrawal) of a claim in the DIFC Courts against a magic circle law firm arising from advice to a UAE bank on a M&A transaction (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC vs Allen and Overy LLP CFI 027/2017).

Coverage advice – advising insurance companies on a wide range of first and third-party commercial insurance policy disputes and litigation, including: D&O / Management Liability; Professional Indemnity; Financial Institutions & BBB; Fidelity, Commercial Crime & ECC; Cyber; and a broad range of facultative and treaty reinsurance disputes.

• Successful defence of a DIFC-LCIA arbitration of a claim under a D&O policy by two former D&Os seeking indemnity for over $250m in liabilities for (class action) shareholder claims, including complex issues relating to non-disclosure, illegality and the conduct exclusion;
• Acting successfully for re/insurers on the three landmark jurisdiction cases for re/insurers relating to the DIFC Court’s jurisdiction under Articles 5(A)(1) and (2) of the Judicial Authority Law to accept disputes subject to the (exclusive) jurisdiction of the “Courts of the United Arab Emirates”:
• • Horizon Energy LLC v Al Buhaira National Insurance Company [2022] DIFC CA 015) before the DIFC Court of Appeal;
  • Union Insurance PJSC v International Precious Metals Refiners CFI 064/2022;
  • AIG (& Others) v Qatar Insurance Co. CFI 003/2022.
• Acting for London-market reinsurers in a dispute as to the enforceability a US-sanctions exclusion relating to an Iranian-linked loss (AIG [& others) v Qatar Insurance Co. CFI 003/2022).  

Mark has extensive experience of the courts and tribunals in England & Wales as well as litigating in all the major common and civil law dispute resolution forums in the Middle East region (including the DIFC Courts, ADGM Courts, QFC Courts, ICC and DIFC-LCIA arbitrations, Dubai & UAE Courts, KSA Dispute Committees, Bahrain BCDR), in addition to domestic and international mediations and ADR.

Mark also has extensive experience of defending investigations and regulatory/disciplinary actions against directors, officers and senior management before specialist regulatory and disciplinary tribunals.