Oran Gelb
Oran Gelb
Oran Gelb
Partner and Co-Global Practice Group Leader – Business and Commercial Disputes
Biography
Oran Gelb is BCLP's Co-Global Practice Group Leader for Business and Commercial Disputes. He has acted on high profile litigation and investigations for some of the largest global institutions in a range of sectors, including financial services, technology, telecoms and utilities, retail and transport. He has represented clients in the High Court, Competition Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He has also represented firms and individuals in front of regulators and competition authorities in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. Oran’s repeat instructions from highly sophisticated clients is testament to the service he provides and his track record of achieving successful outcomes for clients.
Oran has detailed insight into how global organisations operate. He has spent time working in-house on client secondments at Morgan Stanley, Barclays and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Examples of recent work include: acting for a major international technology company in a long-running contractual dispute with a global media company, acting for a major telecoms provider in legal proceedings with another major telecoms company, acting for a global financial institution on a £1bn fraud claim, acting for another global financial institution defending a competition claim in the spot FX market, acting for a prominent retailer pursuing a competition claim in the salmon market, acting for a global financial institution in overseas tax litigation and acting for a major water company in a claim relating to pollution reporting. On the investigations side, Oran has acted on a broad range of internal and regulatory investigations for financial institutions, directors and senior employees relating to matters including listed company reporting obligations, government bond trading, foreign exchange sales and trading, mismarking of positions and transaction reporting.
Oran is recognised in Chambers and Legal 500 as a Leading Individual for Banking Litigation and Commercial Litigation. His descriptions in those directories include:
- “incredibly intelligent and incredibly diligent”,
- “fantastic to work with”,
- “brilliant, detailed, clever and good at strategy in complex multi-party claims”,
- “a wonderful lawyer”,
- “always seems to be thinking one step ahead”,
- “has great judgment, a deep knowledge of the law, and is all over the details”,
- “a deft strategist with a calm, solution-oriented approach”,
- “delivers a first rate service”; “inspires huge confidence in his clients”,
- and “combines excellent analytical and tactical judgement with a commercial, client-friendly approach'”.
Civic Involvement & Honors
- Chambers UK 2026: Highly Recommended - Banking Litigation
- Chambers UK 2026: Highly Recommended - Financial Services: Contentious Regulatory (Corporates)
- Legal 500 UK, Leading Partner - Banking litigation: investment and retail, 2026
- Legal 500 UK, Leading Partner - Commercial litigation: premium, 2026
Admissions
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England and Wales
Related Capabilities
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Investigations
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Litigation & Dispute Resolution
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Special Investigations
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Banking & Finance Disputes
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Anti-Bribery & Corruption
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Finance
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Business & Commercial Disputes
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UK & EU Class Actions
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California Consumer Privacy Act
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Financial Institutions
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Regulation, Compliance & Advisory
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Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
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Data Centers & Digital Infrastructure
Experience
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High Court Litigation – Defending global financial institution in a €1.4bn dispute concerning a complex structured finance transaction. The claim involved complex allegations of misrepresentation/ deceit, breach of duty and conspiracy. Oran successfully obtained summary judgment in favour of his client.
- Appellate Court Litigation – Acted for Eurosail, the issuer of £650m of loan notes in a structured finance transaction concerning the test for insolvency under Section 123(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986. The Supreme Court unanimously confirmed what BCLP had argued successfully at first instance and in the Court of Appeal; the solvency of Eurosail 3BL, and in doing so provided definitive clarification on the balance sheet test of insolvency. The ruling was extremely significant for the securitisation and insolvency markets; providing the seminal judgment on what constitutes balance sheet insolvency and the factors that need to be taken into account by directors and advisers of all companies, not just securitisation vehicles.
- Overseas litigation – Acting for a leading global investment bank in ongoing tax litigation in Denmark. The case is listed for trial for 75 days in 2027.
- Financial Services investigations - Acted for a leading global investment bank. The firm was required by regulators in various jurisdictions to conduct an extensive investigation into the client’s FX sales and trading business following industry-wide allegations of manipulation and anti-competitive behaviour in the foreign exchange spot market. Oran led a cross-practice BCLP team, made up of financial regulatory, competition, financial crime and employment lawyers from different jurisdictions, to advise the bank on strategy, conduct the investigation and represent the firm in discussions with financial and antitrust regulators worldwide. There were no findings made against Oran’s client.
- Corporate investigations - Acted for a listed commercial company on an investigation by the London Stock Exchange following a public profits warning. Following a detailed review of the relevant facts and submissions made to the Exchange, the investigation was discontinued without any action being taken against the company, its officers or employees.
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