Expertise

Keith’s expertise is in banking and financial litigation with a specialism in group actions.  He is a leading practitioner in claimant securities litigation under the Financial Services and Markets Act where he acts for financial institutions including asset managers, public and private pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.

He is a highly experienced commercial litigator and has acted for and against banks, corporates, high net worth individuals, trusts and government entities. His cases have covered numerous subject areas including dividend arbitrage disputes revolving around cum/ex and cum/cum trading, multi-jurisdictional and international disputes (particularly in the offshore jurisdictions), fraud and asset recovery, insolvency and high net worth private client and trust disputes.

Experience

• Leading the RBS Rights Issue litigation where he acted for 313 financial institutions to recover shareholder losses arising out of RBS’s 2008 rights issue.
• Acting for 64 financial institutions in their securities claim against Tesco to recover shareholder losses arising from Tesco’s 2014 accounting scandal.
• Acting for 44 financial institutions against Glencore in their group securities claim for losses relating to disclosure of Glencore’s bribery and corruption scandal.
• Acting for nine corporate and individual defendants in the SKAT Litigation, one of the largest pieces of litigation in the London courts relating to the Danish tax authority’s claims to recover £1.6bn of dividend withholding tax reclaims alleged to have been obtained by cum/ex fraud.
• Acting for a worldwide insurance company to recover losses in multiple jurisdictions arising from the fraud of its former CFO.
• Acting for a Japanese bank in relation to claims relating to its alleged withholding of mezzanine finance for a middle eastern oil refinery project.

Recognition

Stewarts’ Group Litigation practice is top-ranked  in Legal 500 where Keith is ranked as a Leading Lawyer. Legal 500 and Chambers have included the following references:

• “Keith Thomas is renowned for his securities litigation experience and is also highly adept at group litigation in the broader financial services and banking sphere.”
• “Keith Thomas is a very impressive litigator, someone who quickly develops a close understanding of the complex transactions and dealings involved in security litigation, while maintaining realism and humour throughout.”
• “Keith Thomas is hugely experienced and brings gravitas and wisdom to a claim.”

Career

Keith holds a master’s degree in electronic systems engineering. After requalifying as a lawyer he trained and practised at CMS Cameron McKenna before joining Stewarts as a partner in 2010, where he leads the Securities Litigation practice.

Accreditations and Memberships

Keith is a member of the International Bar Association, the London Solicitors Litigation Association and the National Association of Pension Plan Attorneys.

Publications and Media

Keith is on the steering committee of the Cambridge European Forum for Collective Redress and co-authored the English chapter of the Lexology Guide to Securities Litigation. He has also written for Mass Claims Journal.

Personal

As a contrast to the office Keith takes any opportunity to be outside whether that is road cycling, mountain biking, skiing, sailing or hiking.