Charles Crowne

Osborne Clarke

Charles is a litigation lawyer specialising in commercial and regulatory disputes. He has expertise within the financial services sector, including a period as General Counsel of a FTSE 100 financial services firm.

Charles advises on a broad range of commercial litigation, including corporate and shareholder disputes, contractual disputes, and fraud claims.

His financial services regulatory experience encompasses internal and FCA investigations including enforcement proceedings, as well as strategic regulatory advice regarding financial products and investment advice. He regularly advises banks, fintechs, payment service providers, investment managers, and platforms.

Charles is also a key lawyer within Osborne Clarke's highly respected pensions disputes team. He undertakes professional negligence work for both claimants and defendants, including advising one of the leading providers of pension products. He has advised on several high-profile recent construction/rectification cases including Places for People [2025] EWHC 3371 (Ch) and Axminster Carpets [2021] EWHC 1652 (Ch). He also advises platforms, SIPP operators and the PPF on contentious issues.

Charles' time on secondment as General Counsel of a FTSE 100 financial services firm broadened his experience beyond that of a typical litigator. He is very familiar with the full range of board-level legal and regulatory issues, such as listed company obligations, corporate governance, and shareholder management. This experience enables him to view legal issues from a GC perspective and informs how Charles approaches client service, resulting in pragmatic, commercial, and contextualised advice.

He is ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers.

Practice Areas

Panel

Contributing Author

Qualified Year

2009

Experience

Burges Salmon LLP (2007 - 2015)

Membership

Law Society of England & Wales
Association of pensions lawyers
Financial services lawyers association

Qualifications

Admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales (2009)
Legal Practice Course (2007)
BA (Hons) – Law (2006)

Education

College of Law, Guildford (2006-2007)
Bristol University (2003-2006)

1 Contributions by Charles Crowne

PRACTICE NOTES

UK FSCS protection for pensions: scope, eligibility, limits and claims across occupational schemes, personal pensions/SIPPs, deposits and annuities, and interaction with the PPF

This Practice Note examines the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in a pensions setting. For more background on the FSCS generally, consult the following Practice Notes: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme The payment or rejection of compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)—the qualifying conditions for compensation Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)—funding Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)—automatic assignment or subrogation of rights Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)—payment or rejection of compensation What is the FSCS? The FSCS is the UK’s statutory compensation fund for customers of most financial services firms authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). It took effect on 1 December 2001. In strict terms, the FSCS is the set of rules that establish it (the Rules). The Rules were originally made by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and, from 1 April 2013, have been made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). For pensions, the relevant Rules are contained in the FCA Handbook’s Compensation sourcebook (COMP) and Fees manual (FEES), and in the PRA Rulebook’s Policyholder Protection...

Pensions

If you expected to see yourself on this page, click here.