Frank Tao

Date of admission to NSW Bar: 2019

Areas of Practice
Administrative Law
Banking & Financial Services
Bankruptcy
Commercial
Corporations
 Equity
Financial Regulatory Proceedings
Insolvency

Frank accepts briefs in all areas of law. He has experience in banking and financial services matters, financial regulatory investigations and proceedings, and bankruptcy and insolvency disputes.

Before being called to the Bar, Frank practised as a solicitor for almost 10 years, in Sydney and in London. He is admitted to practise as a solicitor in Australia and in England & Wales.

In London, Frank was a Managing Associate at Linklaters LLP. He acted for the Joint Administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe), the world’s most complex administration, on several major proceedings, including:

• the “Waterfall II, Tranche C” Application, concerning ISDA Master Agreements: Burlington v Lomas [2016] EWHC 2417 (Ch);
• the “Withholding Tax” Application, concerning c. £7 billion of statutory interest payments: HMRC v Lehman Brothers [2019] 2 All ER 559 and in the courts below;
• the Lehman Brothers scheme of arrangement: Re Lehman Brothers [2019] Bus LR 1012; and
• a c. US$120 million CDO mis-selling claim.

Frank also has experience in major regulatory investigations. He has acted for:

• a prominent European bank in respect of a “dual track” criminal and civil investigation by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority; and
• a FTSE100 multinational in respect of an ongoing investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office into allegations of international bribery and corruption.

Before his time in London, Frank worked at Henry Davis York, Sydney. He regularly acted for Australian and international banks, and insolvency practitioners in respect of all aspects of banking, financial services and insolvency matters.

Frank was also the Tipstaff to the Hon. Justice Henric Nicholas, Supreme Court of NSW in 2009.

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