Gayathri has extensive experience of handling complex domestic and cross-border investigations and litigation. She has more than a decade of leading-edge experience from senior in-house roles at banks as Head of Group Litigation and Enforcement at Danske Bank in Copenhagen and UK Head of Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement for Deutsche Bank, and spent nine years at another leading law firm advising corporates and financial institutions across a broad spectrum of contentious regulatory, litigation and arbitration matters.
Highlights since joining the firm in April 2021 include advising:
- Close Brothers plc on its ongoing appeal to the UK Supreme Court following the landmark decision by the Court of Appeal in Hopcraft, Wrench and Johnson regarding broker commissions in a motor finance context.
- Credit Suisse in its defence to claims brought in the English High Court by the Republic of Mozambique arising out of the US$2 billion financing of state tuna fishery and maritime security projects in the Republic of Mozambique between 2013 and 2016. In addition, Credit Suisse counterclaimed in relation to defaulted loans. Following settlements reported in October and November 2023, the litigation has been successfully resolved so far as concerns Credit Suisse.
- Santander on a range of regulatory and litigation issues arising out of Santander Consumer UK’s motor finance business, including the FCA’s ongoing review into motor finance and an application for a collective proceeding before the Competition Appeals Tribunal.
- Deutsche Bank in the first general LIBOR claim against multiple banks (as opposed to individual LIBOR mis-selling claims) in England.
- Danske Bank in relation to investigations by US and Danish criminal and regulatory authorities regarding issues arising out of its former Estonian branch. This resulted in a US$2 billion global resolution with the US Department of Justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Danish criminal authorities in December 2022. Gayathri was nominated for Investigations Professional of the Year at the Global Investigations Review 2023 awards for her work in relation to Danske Bank and the matter was also nominated for the Most Important Development of the Year.
- Credit Suisse in relation to claims brought by an investor in various Notes linked to the Credit Suisse Nova (Lux) Supply Chain Finance High Income Fund, which allowed investors to obtain an exposure to trade receivables sourced by Greensill Capital Pty Ltd or its affiliates.
- UK Asset Resolution Limited, Northern Rock Limited and other group companies on a number of actual and threatened public and private law claims.
- A global financial institution on a significant internal investigation into business critical IT related issues.
Gayathri is recognised in Legal 500 2025, Banking Litigation and Financial Services: Contentious. She is also listed as a key lawyer by Legal 500 2024 for Regulatory Investigations and Corporate Crime, and is ranked by Chambers and Partners for Banking Litigation
Clients describe Gayathri as “simply outstanding in her field” and an “excellent technical operator but set apart from others by acute commercial awareness and ability to support an in-house function, including insight into organisational and governance aspects”. Legal 500 2025, Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail.
Sources also note that “Gayathri has a really strong technical edge, lots of in-house experience and an ability to apply her depth of legal knowledge in a proper commercial context” Chambers and Partners 2025, Banking Litigation.
Gayathri is one of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion partners and was named an EMpower 100 Executives Role Model in May 2022, May 2023 and May 2024.