Philippa Hofbrucker
PartnerBiography
Philippa is a partner in the Disputes + Investigations practice.
Philippa is an experienced litigator. She specialises in regulatory investigations and enforcements, significant litigation (including class actions) and other complex disputes. She also advises clients on compliance and risk management issues.
Philippa represents corporations and individuals in all sectors. She has particular expertise in financial services, and has acted on some of Australia’s most high-profile financial services cases and worked in disputes at a global bank in London.
Philippa holds a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) / Law (Honours) and was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 2007. Since then, she has worked at global top-tier law firms in Australia and the UK.
Experience
Philippa’s experience includes acting for:
- Westpac in separate investigations by ASIC and APRA arising from allegations by AUSTRAC of breaches of AML and CTF laws.
- Westpac in an investigation and enforcement proceedings by ASIC in relation to the alleged overcharging of financial advice fees.
- Macquarie Bank in its defence of a class action relating to the payment of commissions in the auto finance industry.
- Deloitte in the parliamentary inquiry into the regulation of auditing in Australia.
- Westpac in its response to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
- Westpac in an investigation and enforcement proceedings by ASIC into alleged manipulation of the Bank Bill Swap rate (BBSW).
- A major domestic bank in an investigation by the ACCC in relation to potential cartel conduct in a syndicated lending transaction.
- A major domestic bank on a significant risk and compliance audit of certain business units to mitigate against anti-competitive and market misconduct.
- A senior banker of an international investment bank in connection with an investigation by ASIC into a large equities trade.
- A major domestic bank on the revision of its financial benchmark compliance framework.
- A major financial advice firm in respect of ASIC’s Wealth Management Project and various related ASIC investigations into particular financial advisers.
- The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in its defence of English High Court proceedings arising from the SFO’s discontinued investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing Bank in Iceland.
- A resources consortium in English Administrative Court proceedings to discharge restraint and management receivership orders obtained by the SFO.
- A Kazakh law firm in proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW, Court of Appeal and the High Court of Australia.
- An individual in complex debt recovery proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW; and
- Directors, executives and employees in preparing for compulsory examinations by regulators and appearances before royal commissions and parliamentary inquiries.
Awards and Recognition
Philippa is recommended as a ‘key lawyer’ in Dispute Resolution: Litigation
Philippa is recommended as a ‘key lawyer’ in Financial Services Regulatory
Philippa co-authored The Banking Litigation Law Review
Philippa was recognised in the area of Class Action Litigation.