Angela Barkhouse
Managing Director
Angela Barkhouse
Managing Director
Cross-border Asset Recovery
- M: +1 (345) 326 1790
- E: angela.barkhouse@quantuma.com
Complex situations spanning multiple jurisdictions require a thorough understanding of all the legal, commercial, and other challenges involved, to determine the best outcome. They also require in-depth experience, local knowledge, and technical precision. And that’s what we provide.
Our team of professionals operate seamlessly across borders, advising on a comprehensive set of advisory services including:
- Cross-border Asset Recovery
- Restructuring
- Insolvency
- Corporate Finance
- Forensic Accounting & Investigations
The team are based throughout the UK and in offshore financial centres, including the Cayman Islands, Mauritius, and Cyprus.
Our global teams
- Cayman Islands: We deliver cross-border asset-recovery services to clients all over the world, from our base in the Cayman Islands. This involves project-management and litigation support to locate and repatriate the proceeds of fraud and corruption concealed in foreign jurisdictions. The team is led by Angela Barkhouse, an expert in financial investigations; asset tracing and recovery; and data analysis and intelligence. Find out more here.
- Dubai: Our Middle East team are based at Index Towers in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) - one of the fastest growing and highest ranking global financial centres in the world. They operate in most jurisdictions across the region, with a particular focus on the GCC, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Pakistan and also work across Africa. The team work with a range of clients to provide the full suite of expert advisory services, including financial investigations and forensic accounting, asset tracing and recovery, complex cross-border investigations, insolvency, corporate finance, and restructuring and business transformation. Find out more here.
- Cyprus: Our seven-strong team of professionals, based in Nicosia, provide a comprehensive range of advisory services to businesses and professional advisers. Working closely with leading lenders and legal practices, both domestic and international, as well as investors in non-performing loans, they have gained a well-earned reputation for their expertise. The team’s specialist knowledge spans several sectors, including real estate, retail, financial services and hospitality, in addition to other traditional Cypriot industries. Find out more here.
- Mauritius: The Mauritius team is led by Yuvraj Thacoor, a restructuring specialist, experienced in traditional administrations, receiverships, liquidation appointments and debt-recovery assignments in foreign jurisdictions. The team provide expert advice on business transactions, assist in resolving disputes and help organisations with a range of operational and financial challenges. They also have extensive experience of acting on cross-border assignments in jurisdictions such as South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, Kenya, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. Find out more here.
- Singapore: Our Singapore team offers cross-border, large and complex restructuring, and insolvency services, in addition to forensic accounting. The team is led by Luke Furler, who also serves as head of Asia and is responsible for growing our presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Our team boasts considerable experience in managing global mandates for clients throughout the region and offer highly sought-after expertise in cross-border insolvencies involving multi-jurisdictional litigation and asset recoveries. You can contact the team here.
- British Virgin Islands (BVI): Strengthening our position as a key player in complex cross-border advisory work, our BVI office is led by Director, Toni Shukla. Toni has over 15 years’ experience in complex cross-border liquidations and receiverships. The team will work closely with the local professional community, providing a full advisory offering including restructuring and insolvency, cross-border asset recovery, investigations, and eDiscovery. You can contact the team here.
- UK: Our business started in the UK and has grown significantly since our launch in 2013. You can see all our locations here.
Working globally, we recognise the importance of language skills. As well as English, members of our team speak French, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Romanian, Cantonese, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hindi, and Igbo, and regularly assist with translations and negotiations.
Cross-border case studies
Ownership dispute
An appointment over a group of companies that are subject to significant UK litigation in relation to a dispute as to ownership, to realise group subsidiary assets. We managed the sale of a European retail packaging business to a UK FTSE 100 organisation, primarily based in Germany and France.
Recovery of funds on property development
Our team has managed a number of formal insolvency appointments on development properties and commercial property with trading businesses, and one involving creditors of over €4 billion with simultaneous complex litigation for the recovery of funds in three different jurisdictions.
Liquidations, receivership, and bankruptcy
We have received a number of appointments with respect to liquidation, receivership and bankruptcy. These include: complex multi-jurisdictional liquidation and bankruptcy proceedings; a fraud and forensic investigation; receivership of Orphanides Plc, Cyrpus’ largest supermarket chain; receivership of FBME Limited, a Cypriot Bank where an in-depth investigation of the company’s affairs was undertaken; and a liquidation of a Luxembourg-based holding/finance company for a Greek Telecom operating company, whereby the centre of main interests were relocated to the UK from Luxembourg with claims circa €1.2billion.
In addition, our team has had significant exposure to the US Bankruptcy Code and US assets. We have also provided restructuring advice to a multinational company listed on the New York Stock Exchange leading to formal appointments over various subsidiaries.
Investigations
The team have been appointed to a number of complex and challenging investigations, including investigating and assisting in the resolution of claims in relation to a significant €70 million 'black hole’ in the accounts of a European-based cash-in-transit business that arose at the time of the Euro changeover. We investigated a claim for shortfalls totalling $40 million in amounts of coffee held in Africa as collateral for a bank loan, and provided expert accountancy advice to the Icelandic Special Prosecutor’s team in the investigation of the collapse of Iceland’s largest bank, Kaupthing h.f.
We also acted for members of a Middle Eastern family to identify the extent to which monies had been misappropriated from family businesses by another family member, and were instructed on behalf of a global distribution company to undertake an investigation of a fraud committed by an employee in Azerbaijan.
Private criminal prosecution
We have acted as investigator in a private criminal prosecution which required tracing tens of millions of pounds across various jurisdictions. We investigated VAT carousel fraud and recovered assets in UK, USA, Bulgaria, Spain, Turkey and Taiwan. We also investigated tax schemes sold to US banks to generate tax losses. We provided the US Department of Justice with an expert witness who challenged the legitimacy of the accounting treatments that underpinned the schemes.
Members of PrimeGlobal
We are members of PrimeGlobal, an award-winning association of independent accounting and business advisory firms, comprised of more than 300 highly successful member firms in over 100 countries. Find out more here.
International desks
Our Cyprus and Italian desks provide a range of advisory services to businesses, stakeholders and individuals in the UK with Cypriot and Italian business interests.
