Jonathan Brown

Jonathan has experience across a wide range of industries, with deep sectoral experience in sport. He has acted as an expert on multiple matters relating to the enforcement of financial regulations in football, and undertaken investigations, compliance reviews, and transaction support for clients across multiple sports. Jonathan is appointed to the Panel of Arbitrators & Mediators at Sport Resolutions — the independent dispute resolution service for sport — and is a member of the Executive Board Risk Committee for a major international federation. He also co-leads Ankura’s Global Sports Advisory Practice.

Outside of sport, Jonathan specializes in multi-jurisdictional matters and has undertaken proactive and reactive investigations, disputes, and compliance projects in over 50 countries. He has acted as an expert and shadow expert on complex issues, including corporate collapses and matters relating to the conduct of company executives, board members, and elected officials.

Immediately prior to joining Ankura, Jonathan led the investigations and forensic technology practice for the EMEA region for a risk consultancy. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a JIEB Qualified Insolvency Practitioner.

Examples of his professional experience include:

Regulatory Investigations & Fraud

• Investigations and remediation, on behalf of a FTSE 100 listed global business, into multiple allegations of bribery and corruption across the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The engagements spanned numerous jurisdictions, including detailed business intelligence, onsite investigations, and compliance advisory support as the client negotiated settlement with U.S. authorities
• An investigation on behalf of listed European Fintech, Wirecard, prior to its collapse. This followed allegations of fraud and corrupt activities across their business. Provided investigative support alongside the company’s legal advisors, assisted them with reporting obligations to enforcement agencies and provided detailed analysis to the company’s auditors.
• Assisted the SFO in a major investigation into alleged overseas corruption by a UK defence company. Led defined investigative strands, analyzed vast quantities of historic accounting data, and undertook multiple interviews under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 alongside SFO lawyers and counsel.
• A shadow investigation on behalf of the company and its auditors in relation to alleged false accounting and associated misreporting by senior management of a U.S. listed technology company. This included comprehensive review of historic accounting data, structured data analytics, and interaction with counsel.
• Acted for a U.S. bank to investigate a major fraud relating to false accounting, leading to a loss of more than USD $100 million. The role involved liaison with the client in Puerto Rico, UK, and U.S. legal teams, local company management, and supporting cooperation with the FBI.

Sport Sector Expertise

• Engaged as an independent expert by the Premier League in relation to alleged breaches of its Profit and Sustainability Rules by member clubs, Everton FC and Nottingham Forest FC. Twice gave evidence to the Premier League’s independent Commission.
• Engaged by the board of a global sporting governing body to undertake a forensic review into the delivery of a major world tournament, including considering governance, financial performance, overruns on infrastructure projects, and management oversight.
• Acted for FIFA, giving evidence before the Court of Arbitration for Sport following an investigation into alleged corruption and conflicts of interest of a senior elected official, including alleged corrupt procurement processes in relation to the rebuilding of a national stadium.
• Investigations in West Africa and South America and in-country compliance reviews for an international sports federation, assessing controls and undertaking transaction testing. The 50 countries subject to review included Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Venezuela, Central Africa Republic, Iraq, Libya, Guatemala, and Laos.
• Appointed to the Federation Court for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The court was responsible for determining disputes arising during the games such as disciplinary, anti-doping, eligibility, safeguarding, and selection disputes, and was operated and administered by Sport Resolutions.

Insolvency & Corporate Collapse

• Acted as a shadow expert on behalf of insolvency officeholders on a forensic exercise to ascertain the point of insolvency of Nortel Networks, a global telecoms group, with turnover of USD $30 billion. Work was used in the settlement of claims as part of a multi-billion litigation suit.
• Acting for a senior board member of a listed company following its high-profile collapse. Assisting in preparation for interviews with a Parliamentary Select Committee and various regulators by reviewing historic data, undertaking financial analysis, and considering the decision-making capacity of the directors of the company in the lead up to insolvency.
• Numerous financial investigations to establish offences under the Insolvency Act 1986, including identifying fraudulent or inappropriate transactions in failing or insolvent companies and assessing the conduct and ongoing fitness of company directors.