Peter Binning

Partner

"Peter Binning is a shrewd analyst who puts forward persuasive arguments for his clients."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

peter-binning
BIOGRAPHY & EXPERTISE
Peter is recognised as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal for Business Crime Defence – Individuals and Business Crime Defence – Corporates 2022, and is highlighted as “a phenomenal lawyer” whom peers consider “the best” when it comes to highly complex and high-profile regulatory and fraud-related litigation.

Chambers and Partners UK 2023 describes Peter as “an incredible force to have on a case. He is an extremely good negotiator and he has top-notch instincts.”

Peter is ranked as a key individual in the fields of ‘Financial Crime Individuals’, ‘Crime Extradition’ and ‘POCA Work & Asset Forfeiture’ by Chambers and Partners UK 2023, and in the Hall of Fame for ‘Fraud: White-Collar Crime’ in the Legal 500 UK 2023. He is also ranked as a leading individual in the field of ‘Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals’ by Chambers HNW 2022.

Peter has been named Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year 2023 for ‘Fraud in London’ and is highlighted in The Best Lawyers in the UK for his work in criminal practice and fraud.

Areas of expertise

Peter is a highly respected criminal defence lawyer who specialises in fraud and regulation litigation, much of it international. He has over 35 years’ experience in investigations and prosecutions relating to fraud, regulatory breaches, corruption, cartels, export control, sanctions and tax evasion.

His past cases include investigations and prosecutions by all major bodies relating to international fraud, corruption, money laundering, all forms of tax and duty evasion, including civil fraud investigations conducted by HM Revenue & Customs. His wide experience incudes extradition and mutual legal assistance together with regulatory investigations and inquiries in financial services and other areas such as government inquiries, major oil infrastructure and air disasters.

WORK HIGHLIGHTS
  • Acting for several high-profile business people in current investigations by police, SFO, HMRC and/or regulators.
  • Acting in a successful judicial review of police search warrant.
  • Acting for a witness in the long running ENRC civil proceedings and SFO investigation.
  • Advising FCA regulated investment firm.
  • Advising in mutual assistance inquiries relating to US proceedings.
  • Securing the acquittal in June 2019 of the former Barclays Chief Executive prosecuted by the SFO in a case relating to the bank’s 2008 capital raisings.
  • Acting for senior executives in several SFO and police investigations into major multinational companies including Rolls-Royce, Tesco and GSK. No charges were brought against any client.
  • Acting for several clients in the current SFO/FCA EURIBOR investigations and trials including one in which extradition from France to the UK was successfully resisted.
  • Acting for clients in the SFO Forex investigation.
  • Representing witnesses in several major US and UK civil fraud actions including mutual assistance deposition hearings and in Commercial Court trials.
Career

Peter graduated in law from Exeter University. He was called to the Bar in 1985. He was a prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office before becoming a partner at Peters & Peters. He was a co-founder of Corker Binning in 2001.

He is a past co-chair of the Business Crime Committee of the International Bar Association, a past treasurer of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association and is now the Chair of the Board of trustees of JUSTICE, the all-party law reform charity, the British Section of the International Commission of Jurists.

News & Insights
Testimonials
"Peter Binning knows his stuff. He doesn't get flustered; he can get on top of things and make a plan reassuringly."

Chambers UK 2023

"He has a very good manner with clients and exudes confidence."

Chambers UK 2023

"He is very experienced and a calm steady hand with very good judgement."

Chambers UK 2023

"Peter Binning is just an incredible force to have on a case. He is an extremely good negotiator and he has top-notch instincts."

Chambers UK 2023

"Peter Binning is a really fantastic strategist and a great lawyer."

Chambers UK 2023

"Peter Binning is hugely experienced, has excellent judgment and is great with clients."

Legal 500 2023

"He's very good, great with clients. Strong judgement capabilities. Great with individuals with complex investigations with lots of moving parts - multiple investigations, multiple prosecutors and authorities."

Chambers HNW 2022

"His a great leader for a defence team. He is organised, responsive to the client, fully prepared and tactically astute."

Chambers UK 2022

"He has a lot of experience and is good at handling difficult and complex extradition cases and pulling all the threads together."

Chambers UK 2022

“Peter is organised, responsive to the client, fully prepared and tactically astute.

Chambers UK 2022

“Peter has unparalleled experience and excels in every single aspect of being a criminal defence attorney.” 

Chambers UK 2022

"Peter Binning is a shrewd analyst who puts forward persuasive arguments for his clients."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

"Peter Binning is the consummate defence litigator: in command of the preparation, ultimately smooth in his dealings with clients and counsel, and with the total respect of the team; he guides cases of the greatest seriousness and sensitivity to successful outcomes."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

Peter Binning is described as "a strategist and instils great confidence in his client."

THE LEGAL 500 2022

"He’s fair-minded, academic and good with clients." “He’s objective in his advice.”

CHAMBERS UK 2021

"Peter Binning leads from the front and is an enormously reassuring guiding hand for clients."

Legal 500 UK 2020

"Peter Binning is ‘an outstanding presence in the field of extradition and multi-jurisdictional fraud’."

THE LEGAL 500 2019

"Peter Binning is 'exceptional in everything he does'."

THE LEGAL 500 2019

"Peter Binning is ‘the godfather of business crime’."

THE LEGAL 500 2019

"Peter Binning and Claire Cross are 'brilliant at the interface of insider dealing and market abuse and are able to run rings round the regulator'."

THE LEGAL 500 2019

"Bags of experience and he provides great insight into the criminal elements of international fraud cases."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"Outstanding, very able and a pleasure to work alongside."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"Highly skilled tactician with a wealth of experience."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"He is tenacious in representing clients' interests, but does so in an intelligent and extremely effective way."

CHAMBERS UK 2019

"They have a high density of the leading players - both David Corker and Peter Binning are very much at the top of the tree."

CHAMBERS HNW 2017

  • Acting for several high-profile business people in current investigations by police, SFO, HMRC and/or regulators.
  • Acting in a successful judicial review of police search warrant.
  • Acting for a witness in the long running ENRC civil proceedings and SFO investigation.
  • Advising FCA regulated investment firm.
  • Advising in mutual assistance inquiries relating to US proceedings.
  • Securing the acquittal in June 2019 of the former Barclays Chief Executive prosecuted by the SFO in a case relating to the bank’s 2008 capital raisings.
  • Acting for senior executives in several SFO and police investigations into major multinational companies including Rolls-Royce, Tesco and GSK. No charges were brought against any client.
  • Acting for several clients in the current SFO/FCA EURIBOR investigations and trials including one in which extradition from France to the UK was successfully resisted.
  • Acting for clients in the SFO Forex investigation.
  • Representing witnesses in several major US and UK civil fraud actions including mutual assistance deposition hearings and in Commercial Court trials.