Michael Potts
Partner

Michael is a specialist in the defence of corporate and financial crime and regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has represented senior executives and other professionals in many high-profile domestic and international investigations and prosecutions conducted by the SFO, FCA, NCA, HMRC and other prosecution/regulatory agencies.

Adept at navigating the overlap between jurisdictions, Michael regularly advises in international cases that involve overseas prosecutors/regulators and has managed and coordinated responses in each jurisdiction on numerous occasions.

Michael regularly advises and represents senior financial services personnel facing FCA/PRA and other regulator investigations and disciplinary action. He also advises and represents high-net-worth individuals facing revenue investigations and potential prosecutions.

Michael has also been extensively involved in advising clients facing financial sanctions both domestically and globally with experience of sanctions regimes in a range of countries, including Russia, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria. His most recent experience includes representing high-net-worth individuals that are the subject of sanctions imposed by OFAC, OFSI and the EU, including challenging the 'designated' status of a number of high-profile Russian Oligarchs, and advising various Russian companies in a range of industry sectors on potential exposures arising from the evolving EU, US and UK sanctions regime. Michael has also defended high net worth individuals facing sanctions breach and evasion investigations conducted by the NCA and HMRC involving multiple jurisdictions. 

In addition, he advises both companies and professional firms on their anti-money laundering compliance. Michael is a Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Criminal and Civil Proceedings).

Legal 500

• Michael is ranked as a leading partner in the 2026 Legal 500 Fraud: White Collar Crime (Advice to Individuals) and is described as “…very imaginative and developed a fine strategy in an international case. He had a good understanding of the requirements of French proceedings and the consequences of the English case on the French case.”

Chambers and Partners

• Michael is also ranked in the 2025 Chambers and Partners High-Net-Worth Directory for Financial Crime – HNW Individuals and is in Band 1.  He is described as “Michael Potts is truly a brilliant strategist, but he also overlays practicality with legal strategy, which helps clients understand the process.”; “Michael is fantastic. He's absolutely unflappable, nothing stresses him and he has seen it all before.”; “Michael is very strong, creative, smart and good to work with. The defining characteristics are his enthusiasm and creativity.”

• Michael is highly ranked in the 2026 Chambers and Partners Directory in the category of Financial Crime – Individuals – London (Firms) with the description:  “Michael is an expert and highly experienced in white-collar crime. He's clever, robust, decisive and very personable”; “Mike is a superb litigator, with extensive experience in business crime and POCA work. He is modest, highly intelligent and has excellent judgement”; “Michael's truly excellent. He's calm, highly intellectual and a strategic thinker”.
• Michael is also highly ranked for his POCA Work and Asset Forfeiture – UK-wide, and is in Band 1.  He is described as, “Mike is a highly personable and well respected POCA and commercial Solicitor. His POCA knowledge is enviable. He has a reputation for the ability to crack the most difficult of issues with clear and sensible advice. Clients love his approach”; “Michael is hands down the best strategist I have worked with.”
• Michael is also highly ranked for Sanctions – UK wide and is described as, “Michael has brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team and has always been in a position to provide commercially astute advice to the problems facing the client”; “Michael is very well known for his work representing designated HNW individuals”; and “Michael always been excellent at working as part of a team and across jurisdictions.”

Notable Experience

• Michael's recent SFO experience includes the Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Glencore and Tchenguiz /Kaupthing Bank investigations.
• He has defended numerous FCA prosecutions for insider dealing and multiple other FCA investigations into market manipulation, misstatements and other breaches of financial services regulations, including the high-profile DOJ/SEC/FCA investigation into the JP Morgan Chief Investment Office US$6.2 billion trading losses.
• Acting for a key individual in the NCA’s Operation Destabilise international money laundering investigation into a $multi – billion Russian money laundering network with links to ransomware and espionage.
• Acting for individuals in HMRC criminal investigations arising from the Panama and Paradise Papers disclosures.
• Advising the former Chairman and majority shareholder of a listed Russian company in the telecommunications industry in the context of exposure he faced from the imposition of sanctions measures against him together with assisting him in preparing detailed written submissions to OFSI to seek a revocation of his designated status.
• Advising a Jersey registered company on whether the European Council's Regulations on Sanctions and the UK Sanctions regulations prohibited them from importing specified commodities from Russia.
• Advising complex Trust structures (owned by a high-profile Russian Oligarch) in Jersey, Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands on potential exposure arising from the EU, UK and US Sanctions regimes.
• Assisting several clients navigate the complex licencing regimes.

• Acting for individuals facing NCA and HMRC for financial sanctions and trade sanctions breaches. 

Background

Michael graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford University in 1993 and qualified at Dechert LLP in 1997. He was a founding partner of Byrne and Partners LLP in 2003 and in 2012 was made Managing Partner and then later Senior Partner. Michael joined the newly merged PCB Byrne in 2021 and is now Head of the Financial Crime Department at the firm.  Michael is a member of the Fraud Lawyers Association and International Bar Association. He was a committee member of the Law Society's Money Laundering Task Force (now Economic Crime Task Force) for nine years and regularly advises on anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime asset recovery issues. He has contributed to numerous articles and has been regularly quoted in the media.

Contact Michael