About

Michael Bowes QC is highly regarded as an expert in civil and criminal “cross-over” work. He is described as “…one of the go-to barristers in England for a corporate crisis. He has a very practical approach to solving some of the more complicated problems.” “A great crossover practitioner from the Criminal Bar.” Financial Services, Chambers and Partners 2020. Michael is a Deputy High Court Judge (Queen’s Bench Division) and a Recorder. He was elected as a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2007.

Michael specialises in business crime, civil fraud, financial services and international sanctions. He acts for corporate clients and senior managers in global investigations and for the SFO, FCA, CMA and Lloyd’s of London. He is instructed in several current major financial cases, both civil and criminal and in several substantial cross-border corruption investigations. He advises companies in respect of US and EU sanctions. In 2018, he successfully defended Terence Watson, former Managing Director of Alstom Transport UK, who was charged with conspiracy to corrupt. He acted for the SFO in the Deferred Prosecution Agreement reached with Serco in July 2019.

Michael acts for overseas regulators and is instructed in overseas cases as an expert in English law. He successfully prosecuted the FCA’s first insider dealing case and has prosecuted numerous insider-dealing cases subsequently. He is also instructed as an expert witness in FCA procedure. He is listed as a leading silk in the fields of Financial Services, Financial Crime (Corporates) and Financial Crime (London) in Chambers & Partners and in Banking & Finance, Business and Regulatory Crime and Fraud in the Legal 500, which notes that he is “A top-drawer barrister; he combines an approachable demeanour with a strong intellect.” He is listed as an expert in Who’s Who Legal: Business Crime Defence 2019.

He is registered in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) Courts. He is a trustee of Transparency International UK and a co-chair of the UK Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association. He is a co-author of the Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (GIR, 3rd ed.2019).