Service Legal
Cabinet d'avocats internationaux
Zaiwalla & Co is a London law firm with 40 years of experience acting for commercial
entities, banks and financial institutions and prominent individuals based in South
Asia, Middle East, China, Iran, Russia and the CIS, and Africa.
Our team has a proven track record of success in some of the highest profile matters
in the UK Courts and abroad and our lawyers have the experience required to advise
our clients on the quickest and best route to reach their desired outcome.
Clients choose Zaiwalla & Co for the firm’s proven experience in turning difficult
cases into successes. Time and time again Zaiwalla & Co has set a legal precedent by
developing a novel point of law. In fact, the firm has now handled over 115 cases that
have changed the law, a disproportionately high number for a firm of its size.
Our team is used to taking over high value, complex matters from larger law firms and
has frequently turned a once failing case into a success by taking a fresh approach.
What matters to us the most is giving our clients the best advice in the market at a
cost that is proportionate and fair.
Our team is currently acting in an appeal featured in The Lawyer magazine’s annual
list of the Top 10 Appeals of 2023 in the English Courts, the US$2 billion claim by the
Central Bank of Venezuela v The Bank of England. These cases are selected by The
Lawyer for the importance of the points of law involved.
Sarosh Zaiwalla – Senior Partner
THE TOP 20
Ranked in The Legal 500 2023 in Banking, Commercial Litigation and
International Arbitration
Shortlisted for Litigation Boutique of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2023
Central Bank of Venezuela v Bank of England featured in The Lawyer’s
‘Top 10 Appeals of 2023 in the UK Courts’
Finalist for Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year at the British
Legal Awards 2022’
Services
FAIRE VALOIR CONTENTIEUX COMMERCIAL
BANQUE CENTRALE DU VENEZUELA (BCV) V LA BANQUE D’ANGLETERRE
The firm is instructed by BCV in relation
to a dispute in the Commercial Court
over control of central bank assets,
including more than US$2 billion of
Venezuela’s gold held in the Bank of
England, and the termination proceeds
of a gold swap transaction by the London
Branch of Deutsche Bank AG – the case
raises important issues of both publicand
private international law.
PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK
Zaiwalla & Co acted for US and Indian
clients in a US$45 million fraud claim
brought by the Indian bank. The claim
was successfully defeated following
Zaiwalla & Co’s successful challenge
of the jurisdiction of the English High
Court. The Court particularly criticised
the claimant Bank’s failure to disclose
parallel proceedings in an Indian Tribunal
and found no case of fraud against our
clients. In May 2020, the Court of Appeal
refused the bank permission to appeal.
KAZAKHSTAN KAZAGY PLC V ARIP
In one of the largest worldwide freezing
injunction cases in the Commercial Court
the firm acted for Central Asia’s largest
paper producer and recycler, the Londonlisted
Kazakhstan Kagazy group, in a US
$150 million claim against two former
shareholders. In a judgment in 2014, the
Court of Appeal unanimously rejected an
appeal against the £72 million worldwide
freezing injunction successfully obtained
for our clients.
CLAIM AGAINST BAHRAIN ROYAL FAMILY MEMBER
Zaiwalla & Co acted for a Dubai-based
businessmen in a US$26 million claim
against a member of the Bahraini Royal
family for breach of contracts for the
introduction of Bollywood stars. The
Royal Family member was ordered to
defend proceedings before the English
High Court.
ERDENET MINING CORPORATION V GOVERNMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN
The firm acted for Erdenet Mining
Corporation of Mongolia, one of the largest
copper mines in the world, operated
as a joint venture with the Russian
Government. Erdenet claimed a sum
of US$68 million from the Government
of Kazakhstan for the failure to process
and deliver copper cathode pursuant to
two contracts following the liquidation
of Kazakhstan state-owned companies.
IRINA BOKOVA V ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS LIMITED
The team successfully acted for the
former Director General of UNESCO in a
libel action against the publisher of the
Daily Mail.
Services
WORK HIGHTLIGHTS ARBITRATION
YUKOS ARBITRATION
The firm is instructed by BCV in relation
to a dispute in the Commercial Court
over control of central bank assets,
including more than US$2 billion of
Venezuela’s gold held in the Bank of
England, and the termination proceeds
of a gold swap transaction by the London
Branch of Deutsche Bank AG – the case
raises important issues of both publicand
private international law.
KENYAN LCIA ARBITRATION
Acting for the Claimant in a US$500
million LCIA arbitration claim against
a state broadcasting corporation for
breach of a joint venture agreement to
operate a television channel and digital
television multiplex platform.
PEC LTD V ASIA GOLDEN RICE CO. LTD
The firm successfully acted for an
Indian public sector undertaking to set
aside in London a US$6.25 million Grain
and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA)
arbitration award. The Court concluded
that an employee of an Indian-PSU did
not alone have the requisite authority
to enter into the contract, and there
was therefore no valid arbitration
agreement. This case was referred to
in the latest edition of Bowstead &
Reynolds on Agency.
INDIAN SIAC ARBITRATION
Advising an Indian infrastructure
company on strategy, working alongside
their existing advisors in a US$320 million
SIAC arbitration claim, arising out of a
private equity transaction.
LCIA ARBITRATION
The team successfully obtained for a
Russian client a US$200 million arbitraiton
award in a shareholder dispute which is
believed to be the first ever arbitration
over the division of matrimonial assets.
Services
WORK HIGHTLIGHTS SANCTIONS AND PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
BANK MELLAT V HM TREASURY
The firm is instructed by BCV in relation
to a dispute in the Commercial Court
over control of central bank assets,
including more than US$2 billion of
Venezuela’s gold held in the Bank of
England, and the termination proceeds
of a gold swap transaction by the London
Branch of Deutsche Bank AG – the case
raises important issues of both publicand
private international law.
CHALLENGES TO SANCTIONS
In one of the largest worldwide freezing
injunction cases in the Commercial Court
the firm acted for Central Asia’s largest
paper producer and recycler, the Londonlisted
Kazakhstan Kagazy group, in a US
$150 million claim against two former
shareholders. In a judgment in 2014, the
Court of Appeal unanimously rejected an
appeal against the £72 million worldwide
freezing injunction successfully obtained
for our clients.
LEGAL OPINIONS
Zaiwalla & Co acted for a Dubai-based
businessmen in a US$26 million claim
against a member of the Bahraini Royal
family for breach of contracts for the
introduction of Bollywood stars. The
Royal Family member was ordered to
defend proceedings before the English
High Court.
UNHW CITIZENSHIP REVIEW
The firm acted for Erdenet Mining
Corporation of Mongolia, one of the largest
copper mines in the world, operated
as a joint venture with the Russian
Government. Erdenet claimed a sum
of US$68 million from the Government
of Kazakhstan for the failure to process
and deliver copper cathode pursuant to
two contracts following the liquidation
of Kazakhstan state-owned companies.
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