3 Verulam Buildings WC1R 5NT DX: LDE 331 Gray’s Inn, London. Telephone: +44(0)20 7831 8441 Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board Paul C K Wee Email Address: [email protected] Year Of Call: 2010 Paul Choon Kiat Wee specialises in commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration, and investor-state arbitration. Ranked as a Global Market Leader for International Arbitration by Chambers Global, and recommended by Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior barrister in the fields of international arbitration, energy and natural resources, and public international law, Paul is described by the directories as a “rising star who is becoming a go-to” who is “exceedingly bright and has absolutely excellent drafting skills”, with “a real ability to think around the issues and distil them in a clear and concise way”. He is recognised for his “excellent draftsmanship, knowledge of the law, and attention to detail”, and clients regard him as “brilliant, a go-to junior for investment treaty arbitrations” and “a real grafter and an excellent advocate”, affirming that he “shows meticulous attention to detail and is extremely hardworking, very strategic, polished with the clients and cool under pressure”. He is extremely“ strategic, knowledgeable about international law, enormously hardworking, and a pleasure to work with”, as well as “an excellent drafter and a very straightforward guy who is very polished”. In addition to noting that he is phenomenally“ hardworking, knows the law inside out and extremely reliable and thorough in his legal analysis”, the directories further single out his accessibility and teamworking skills:In “ my experience the most user-friendly barrister at the bar – he is phenomenally hard-working and his style of working means that he is seamlessly embedded into our team on cases.” Paul’s clients include governments, corporations, financial institutions, and individuals, and his practice spans a diverse range of sectors including banking and finance, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure, mining and exploration, telecommunications, IT, manufacturing, and entertainment and media. In addition to his in-depth experience in all aspects of arbitration (international commercial and investor-state arbitration alike, under the ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, SCC, and ICSID Rules, and in arbitration-related court proceedings concerning setting aside and enforcement of international arbitral awards: Yukos v. Russia and Stati v. Kazakhstan), Paul has considerable expertise in banking and finance (having acted in high profile matters such as the RBS Rights Issue litigation), civil fraud and asset recovery (especially in CIS-related fraud disputes, such as the Kazakhstan Kagazy and BITEL litigation, and with in-depth experience of freezing and proprietary injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust applications, and other fraud-related interlocutory relief), and insolvency (acting both for and against insolvency practitioners in disputes concerning transactions defrauding creditors, insolvent trading, and asset recovery proceedings against directors for misappropriation of company assets). Paul’s practice has a significant offshore and international element. As well as being a member of the Bar of England and Wales, Paul has Page 1 / 9 3 Verulam Buildings WC1R 5NT DX: LDE 331 Gray’s Inn, London. Telephone: +44(0)20 7831 8441 Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board also been called to the Bar of the British Virgin Islands (2014) and granted rights of audience before the AIFC Court (2019). Paul’s current and recent cases include: World Wide Minerals Ltd v. Republic of Kazakhstan: acting for the Republic of Kazakhstan in USD 2bn UNCITRAL investment arbitration proceedings concerning uranium mining concessions, including in its successful s.68 challenge to an investment treaty arbitration award: [2020] EWHC 3068 (Comm) (with Joe Smouha QC and Christopher Harris QC) A v. B: acting for the claimant in a confidential USD multi-billion dispute concerning the energy and natural resources sector (with Adrian Beltrami QC) The “Kidman” Litigation: acting for the claimant investors in high-profile fraud proceedings concerning an apparent Ponzi scheme: [2020] EWHC 2138 (Comm) (with Peter de Verneuil Smith QC) Tolkynneftegaz LLP (in bankruptcy) v. Terra Raf Trans Traiding Limited: acting for the claimants in USD 500m fraud proceedings before the Gibraltar Supreme Court (with Tom Leech QC) X v. Y: acting as sole counsel for the respondent in a substantial ICC arbitration concerning offshore seismic data acquisition Big Sky Energy Corporation v. Republic of Kazakhstan: acting for the Republic of Kazakhstan in an ICSID arbitration concerning an investment in an oil and gas venture owned by Kazakh nationals (led by Sam Wordsworth QC) The RBS Rights Issue Litigation: instructed by RBS and its former directors, defending the GBP multi-billion group action brought by subscribers to its 2008 rights issue (led by Sonia Tolaney QC and others) The “Turkcell” Litigation: acted for a major Turkish bank in relation to a USD multi-billion telecoms dispute with a Russian entity, involving LCIA arbitration and BVI court proceedings (with Ewan McQuater QC) Alhambra Resources Ltd v. Republic of Kazakhstan: acted for the Republic of Kazakhstan in a USD 500m ICSID investment arbitration arising from the failure of a gold mining venture (led by Alison Macdonald QC) State v. Investor: advising on the enforcement of a substantial eight-figure investor-state arbitration award Yukos v. The Russian Federation: acting for the Russian Federation to oppose the enforcement of highly-publicised USD 50bn arbitral awards obtained by the former shareholders of Yukos under the Energy Charter Treaty (one of The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases of 2016) (led by Jonathan Gaisman QC, Shaheed Fatima QC, and Christopher Harris) Stati v. Republic of Kazakhstan: acted for the Republic of Kazakhstan in its successful opposition to the enforcement of a USD 500m arbitral award obtained under the Energy Charter Treaty concerning oil and gas investments in western Kazakhstan, which concluded in the award creditors discontinuing their enforcement proceedings and undertaking never to seek the enforcement of the award in this jurisdiction: see [2017] EWHC 1348 (Comm), [2017] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 201 and [2018] EWHC 1130 (Comm), [2018] 1 WLR 3225 (with Ali Malek QC and Christopher Harris QC) Kitcatt & Ors v. Publicis: acting for the former shareholders of Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw Page 2 / 9 3 Verulam Buildings WC1R 5NT DX: LDE 331 Gray’s Inn, London. Telephone: +44(0)20 7831 8441 Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board Limited, an advertising agency, in their successful claim against the Publicis Group arising from Publicis’ acquisition of the agency, heard over 10 days in the Commercial Court: [2017] EWHC 675 (Comm) (with Andrew Sutcliffe QC) Kazakhstan Kagazy plc v. Zhunus: acted in the long-running Kazakhstan Kagazy plc fraud litigation, including in the Court of Appeal: [2016] EWCA Civ 1036, [2017] 1 WLR 1360 (with David Head QC) A v. B: acted as sole English-law counsel for the Respondent in a USD 170m Singapore-seated ICC arbitration relating to the construction of a power plant in Indonesia Paul additionally has substantial experience of acting as sole counsel. He often appears unled, regularly in the High Court but also in the County Courts, and often against more experienced advocates (including QCs). Paul also maintains a keen academic interest in law. He is a contributor to a number of leading practitioner texts, including Paget on Banking and the Encyclopaedia of Banking Law, and has published in areas including banking law, international investment arbitration, equity and trusts, and general contract law. His published work was cited extensively by the Singapore Court of Appeal in MFM Restaurants v. Fish & Co [2010] SGCA 36, one of the leading cases on contractual remoteness in Singapore. In his spare time, Paul is a keen pianist. His début recording of piano works by Charles-Valentin Alkan was released in November 2019 on BIS Records to critical acclaim, and shortlisted for a Gramophone Award. Directory Quotes ‘Phenomenally hardworking, knows the law inside out and is extremely reliable and thorough in his legal analysis.’ Legal 500 2020 “He is exceedingly bright and has absolutely excellent drafting skills.” Chambers & Partners UK 2020 Expertise Arbitration Paul’s arbitration practice encompasses international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, and arbitration-related court proceedings. Details of arbitral proceedings in which Paul has acted remain confidential. Representative examples include the following: Page 3 / 9 3 Verulam Buildings WC1R 5NT DX: LDE 331 Gray’s Inn, London. Telephone: +44(0)20 7831 8441 Barristers regulated by the Bar Standards Board Paul acted (with Joe Smouha QC and Christopher Harris QC) in a rare successful s.68 challenge to an investment treaty arbitration award. Paul is acting (with Adrian Beltrami QC) in a confidential USD multi-billion dispute concerning the energy and natural resources sector. Paul is acting (led by Joe Smouha QC and Christopher Harris) for the Respondent in a USD 2bn UNCITRAL investment arbitration concerning uranium mining concessions. Paul acted (led by Ewan McQuater QC) in LCIA arbitration proceedings for a major Turkish bank in relation to a USD multi-billion telecoms dispute with a Russian entity. Paul is acting (led by Sam Wordsworth QC) for the Respondent in an ICSID investment