STEPHEN DOWNIE

Partner

HONG KONG

SPECIALISES IN:

Investigations
Dispute Intelligence
Integrity Due Diligence
Business Intelligence

REGIONAL EXPERTISE:

Greater China
APAC
Former Soviet Union

PRIOR EXPERIENCE:

Aon, 2016-2018
Stroz Friedberg, 2014-2018
Freelance Journalist, 2013-2014
Gatcombe, 2012-2014

EDUCATION:

University of Cambridge
Chinese University of Hong Kong (ongoing)

LANGUAGES:

Mandarin
Russian
German

Stephen oversees Wallbrook’s Asia-Pacific practice, where he specialises in reactive white-collar investigations, dispute intelligence and integrity and financial crime due diligence. Stephen both leads and contributes to investigations across the APAC region and further afield.

A speaker of Mandarin and Russian, Stephen’s work typically spans multiple jurisdictions, including incident-response investigations, asset traces and dispute-related intelligence gathering. He has been called on by corporates and their counsel to lead their most sensitive, time-critical investigations, from assessing whistle-blower corruption allegations, to identifying the perpetrators of a cross-border fraud.

Stephen previously covered corruption in the PRC as a journalist, and he continues to advise clients on the broader risk environment in APAC and the Former Soviet Union. He has helped clients navigate the most disruptive regulatory events of the last decade, from the PRC’s anti-corruption crackdown, Crimea-related sanctions against Russia, and the 1MDB fraud in Malaysia. Finally, Stephen has deep knowledge of the Financial Crime Compliance issues affecting private wealth managers, as a former secondee to regulator-mandated bank monitorships.

Prior to Wallbrook, Stephen worked at the risk consultancy Stroz Friedberg, first in London, and later in Hong Kong. Before Stroz Friedberg and his work as a journalist, Stephen co-established Gatcombe Ltd, an education consultancy with offices in Hong Kong and the UK.

Stephen holds a first-class bachelor’s degree in Russian, German and Linguistics from the University of Cambridge, and is currently undertaking a Juris Doctor degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.