Quantuma bolsters London disputes team
Cross-border advisory firm Quantuma has appointed leading international forensic accountant and investigations professional Chris Phillips as a managing director in its London office.
Mr. Phillips joins from the London arm of US consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal where he served as managing director for three years. Prior to this he spent thirty years at Deloitte, where he held senior roles in Melbourne, Sydney, Geneva and Zurich before returning to London.
Mr. Phillips’ extensive experience includes recent investigations into major infrastructure projects and allegations of procurement fraud, bid rigging, bribery and corruption, analysis of wasted costs involving a luxury hotel development, investigations into alleged bribery involving a major bank in sub-Sahara Africa and advising companies in developing strategic frameworks to address the threats of economic crime – especially fraud, bribery and corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, in addition to AML reviews for PE funds in acquiring NPL portfolios and business intelligence reviews as part of M&A transactions.
Mr. Phillips joins Quantuma to develop the London-based investigations practice and grow a team of investigations, technology and business intelligence professionals around him. Mr. Phillips will work closely with London-based Forensic Accounting lead, Gavin Pearson, the firm’s Middle East lead, Yaser Dajani and the firm’s Caribbean lead, Angela Barkhouse to add further depth of capability to the firm’s international investigations and business intelligence practice.
Quantuma is a member of the K3 Capital Group, which recently received investment from the European arm of US private equity firm, Sun Capital Partners, Inc. It employs over 400 staff who operate from its 24 offices located across the UK and in key international financial centers.
Chris Phillips said: “I am delighted to have joined Quantuma as it embarks on its next chapter, preparing to accelerate its already impressive growth, with the recent investment by Sun Capital.
“I was attracted by the firm’s drive and ambition and have been extremely impressed by the quality and profile of work the team undertakes and the collaborative approach the firm applies to client engagements.
“I am looking forward to further developing the London based investigations team and joining forces with colleagues from across the firm’s international offices, including Angela Barkhouse in the Caribbean, Yaser Dajani in the Middle East and Gavin Pearson in London, to drive forward the firm’s cross-border investigations and business intelligence practice”.
Quantuma chief executive officer, Carl Jackson, said: “Over the course of the last five years we have built a highly regarded disputes and eDiscovery team in the UK, which acts for some of the world’s leading law firms, and regularly undertakes high profile domestic and international assignments.
“Our offering has been developed over the last couple of years by the addition of a world-class investigations and asset recovery team located in the Caribbean and Middle East with a particular focus on cross-border and offshore assignments.
“The recruitment of a London-based anchor for our international investigations team is the obvious next step for Quantuma. I am delighted that Chris has chosen to join us and look forward to him developing and growing our London-based investigations practice, as we build a team of investigations and business intelligence professionals around him.”
