Bruce Macaulay

Mr. Macaulay has been recommended as a leading individual for over a decade in both Chambers UK and The Legal 500 UK, in which he has been described as an “unflappable” lawyer who “has extremely good judgement and is a ruthless tactician;” and is “rock solid;” “tenacious;” “a financial disputes expert;” and a “seasoned litigator.” He has also been included in Who's Who Legal: Arbitration’s annual Global Leaders list, repeatedly recognized as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Global Litigators and recommended in Chambers Global and Best Lawyers.

Mr. Macaulay is part of Skadden’s top-ranked international arbitration practice, which has been described by clients in leading industry outlets as “an exceptionally strong team with outside-the-box thinking” and praised for its “devastatingly brilliant minds.”

He is a solicitor advocate (and has rights of audience in the High Court) and a member of the London Court of International Arbitration. Mr. Macaulay also lectures regularly on cross-border litigation, investment treaty matters and competition law issues. He serves as co-head of Skadden’s Global Anti-Money Laundering Committee.

His recent experience includes representing or acting for:

• a leading farmed Atlantic salmon producer (as part of a group of defendants) in the defence of:
  • a £675 million claim before the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) brought by seven of the largest supermarkets in the U.K. in relation to the defendants’ alleged unlawful collusion to increase Atlantic salmon prices
  • a proposed class action before the CAT on behalf of up to 44 million U.K. consumers, who allegedly suffered loss from the proposed defendants’ alleged unlawful collusion to increase Atlantic salmon prices. The proposed class representative sought aggregate damages of up to £382 million
• a private equity investor in the resolution, pursuant to a mediation process, of a US$2 billion earn-out dispute involving the founders of a software company
• a high-net-worth individual in an LCIA arbitration and related proceedings in the London High Court, Cayman and BVI courts relating to a dispute under an Investment Management Agreement and related funds
• a fintech startup with regard to matters of libel and defamation arising from the threatened publication of incorrect and misleading information
• a generic pharmaceutical company in the defence of a follow-on action initially filed in the High Court in 2019 but later transferred to the CAT. The claimants alleged that the defendants breached EU competition law and caused substantial losses and damage
• an offshore drilling contractor in its defence of a High Court claim brought by an agent in the oil and gas industry, involving complex areas of U.S. compliance and anti-bribery laws. The agent sought damages relating to unpaid commission fees with respect to a joint venture and pursuant to an unsigned document
• one of the world’s largest financial institutions, acting as global counsel in respect of the defence of coordinated class action litigations in the U.K., EU and U.S. arising out of the propriety of trading activities within its foreign exchange business
• a multinational biotech company in relation to a potential contractual dispute under certain licence agreements as an integral part of a transaction in the pharmaceutical sector valued at US$1.25 billion
• a multinational corporate in its contractual dispute with an international cosmetics company concerning the scope of a contractual indemnity
• Sequana S.A. in its company law dispute with British American Tobacco concerning challenges, on various grounds, to the lawfulness of dividends, including issues regarding directors’ duties and the scope of key provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the U.K. Supreme Court)
• a high-net-worth individual in successfully challenging the juris-diction of the English High Court in proceedings brought by 112 customers of the formerly private Russian bank Promsvyazbank concerning allegations of misselling of loan notes. This matter also involved securing the release of significant funds paid into court by the client and resisting applications for additional freezing order relief
• the Republic of Cyprus in its successful defence of ICSID claims arising out of its regulatory treatment of the nation’s second-largest bank during the eurozone financial crisis. In a 2018 award rendered under the Cyprus-Greece bilateral investment treaty, an ICSID tribunal upheld Cyprus’ defences in full, rejected claims by the bank’s former shareholders that had sought more than €1 billion in damages, and awarded costs in favor of the Republic
• a multinational commodity trading and mining company in the defence of standalone competition law claims advanced in the London High Court
• a major financial institution in relation to various follow-on damages claims being pursued in the London Commercial Court in connection with alleged anticompetitive practices by employees of the institution
• an international investment bank in connection with disputes in excess of US$1 billion arising under certain structured finance products involving proceedings in the London Commercial Court and in New York
• a generics products supplier in relation to damages claims in the U.K. following a decision by the EU Commission
• a Cypriot company in a series of urgent injunctions and quick trial before the London Commercial Court, arising out of a shareholders’ dispute over a block of shares valued at US$1.5 billion
• the prosecution of a claim under a shareholders agreement in an LCIA arbitration in London (in excess of US$500 million), and related injunctive proceedings in the London Commercial Court
• an international investment bank as respondent in defending allegations of financial fraud and contractual breach in excess of US$500 million that involved court and arbitration proceedings in three jurisdictions
• an international mining services company in a complex shareholder valuation dispute in the Cayman Islands
• a European bank in relation to a dispute arising out of a share transfer agreement in LCIA arbitration in London, subject to Czech law
• an international bank in disputes arising in New York and London in connection with certain trading counterparties
• a car manufacturer in relation to stand-alone and follow-on damages claims issued against it in the London High Court
• acting in the defence and counterclaim of an US$18 billion dispute under a share sale agreement brought by Yukos in LCIA arbitration in London- a top gaming operator in connection with a threatened stand-alone damages claim before the CAT
• a Russian company in a Stockholm-seated arbitration against an international oil major under the UNCITRAL rules relating to a long-term production sharing agreement and involving claims in excess of US$10 billion
• a subsidiary of the Shacolas Group, a leading private group operating in a diverse range of industries, including retail, logistics and telecommunications, in a dispute over retail operations at Paphos and Larnaka airports
• the Republic of South Sudan in its oil sector negotiations and related inter-national law issues following its secession from the Republic of Sudan, as well as in ICSID proceedings brought by Sudapet Co. Ltd. concerning the disputed ownership of significant oil field interests (disputed amount exceeding US$1 billion). Legal Business named Skadden as its 2017 International Arbitration Team of the Year for the defence of this case
• the Republic of South Sudan in the recovery of substantial sums representing the proceeds of shipments of crude oil misappropriated by the Republic of Sudan. For this work, Skadden was commended by the Financial Times in its 2013 Innovative Lawyers report for Europe and the firm also won the African Legal Awards’ 2013 Dispute Resolution Team of the Year award
• a company in respect of a claim brought in the London Commercial Court by nonexecutive directors against the company for access to sensitive documents and information, allegedly for the purpose of performing their duties as directors of the company