Eleanor Davison

Eleanor Davison is a leading practitioner in regulatory law, financial services and commercial crime. She specialises in financial services, professional discipline, fraud, bribery and corruption, money laundering and sanctions. She acts for the FCA, PRA, and FRC in enforcement proceedings as well as for senior executives who are the subject of those proceedings.

Eleanor is a member of the SFO A panel and acts in relation to criminal prosecutions of complex fraud. Her practice extends to advising the legal sector on compliance with requests from UK and international enforcement agencies and with the money laundering reporting regime. Eleanor is appointed to APEX as the Bar Standard Board’s money laundering and sanctions expert.

Eleanor has considerable experience as a sole advocate in the commercial and criminal courts as well as acting as part of a broader counsel team. Ongoing and recent cases include the SFO investigation into the Gupta Family Group and its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital UK Ltd, FCA action against Jes Staley and defending former Metro Bank executives, regulatory enforcement proceedings arising from the collapse of London Capital & Finance, instruction by the Bank of England in the PRA’s first case against a Category 1 PRA-regulated firm, acting for Paula Vennells in the Public Inquiry into the Horizon scandal and the Dame Linda Dobbs Review into Lloyds Banking Group.

Her work extends internationally, with instruction on behalf of the investment arm of the UK government in a cross border financial sanctions matter and the Home Office in relation to money laundering issues.

Eleanor is recommended in Who’s Who Legal 2024 in Global Elite Thought Leaders – Global Elite, Investigations and UK Bar. She is described as “an exceptional advocate”, renowned for “analysing complex evidence” and as “having strong expertise in banking and commercial fraud law” and as “a brilliant lawyer” with “a rare expertise in both financial services regulation law and those aspects of criminal law which engage with regulated financial activity,”. She is recommended as a leading junior by Chambers and Partners in Financial Crime, Financial Crime Corporates and Financial Services and by Legal 500 in Business and Regulatory Crime, Financial Services Regulation and Proceeds of crime and asset forfeiture.

Called to the Bar 2003. Educated at Warwick University and Bristol University. Lord Denning scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn). Thomas More scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn). Peter Duffy scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn) at the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice.

Fraud Lawyers Association, Financial Services Lawyers Association.

Co-editor of the Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations. Contributing author to Lissack and Horlick on Bribery. Contributor to Lloyds Financial Crime Law Reports.