Ian Giles

Head of Antitrust and Competition, Europe, Middle East and Asia
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

London
United Kingdom
T:+44 (20) 74443930
London
United Kingdom
T:+44 (20) 74443930
Ian Giles

Ian Giles

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Biography

Ian Giles is an antitrust, competition and regulatory lawyer working from our London and Brussels offices.  He has been involved in a number of significant cases in recent years across the spectrum of competition law, including: securing approvals for major transactions; representing clients in high-profile market and competition investigations; and advising on disputes in respect of competition, regulatory and trade law.

Ian is ranked as a Leading Individual in Chambers, The Legal 500, and Who's Who Legal, with Chambers describing him as "a great lawyer, someone who's very responsive, practical and thoughtful. He's very focused on trying to find solutions."  He is also recognized for his "excellent legal skills" and "creative thinking", as well as being "extremely responsive", and having an "astute and methodical approach". 

Ian worked in a senior role as a competition enforcer at the UK Office of Fair Trading in 2008-9, and the insights he gained from this time are particularly valuable in his work.  He is a frequent speaker and media commentator on competition issues, and author of various competition law academic works.  Ian is also a leading member of the UK ICC Competition Group and the City of London Law Society Competition Group. 


Professional experience

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  • Solicitor, qualified in England & Wales
  • Registered at the Brussels Bar 2019

Representative transactional experience, advising:

  • GFG Alliance on the acquisition of the aluminium rolling divestment business in the US$2.2bn Novelis/Aleris, following phase 2/second request review in the EU, US, China and elsewhere.
  • BP on numerous acquisitions, including the US$1bn acquisition of Statoil's aviation fuels business, requiring a complex remedies package before the European Commission, JVs with the likes of Shell, Rosneft and Bunge, and several other transactions before various global competition authorities.
  • Shell on various competition matters, including on the $11bn Nordstream 2 joint venture, including the highly political Phase 2 review in Poland which recently led to imposition of the highest fine in global antitrust history of over €6bn.
  • Delta Air Lines in securing competition and regulatory clearances for numerous share acquisitions and joint ventures before the European Commission, UK CAA, and other global regulators, including with respect to Virgin Atlantic, Air France-KLM, Alitalia, Korean, Gol, Latam and others.
  • Life Technologies on securing global regulatory approvals on its US$13bn acquisition by Thermo Fisher.
  • Bombardier on securing global approvals for the US$1.5bn equity investment by CDPQ, and in respect of the US$6 billion sale of its transportation business to Alstom.
  • Various other energy companies on transactions requiring approval before competition authorities, notably in respect of renewable energy projects and joint ventures.

Representative investigations and compliance experience, acting for:

  • A leading global energy company in respect of the regulatory and competition investigations into foreign exchange manipulation.
  • A leading UK retailer in successfully overturning the UK OFT's then record-breaking fine in respect of alleged price fixing in tobacco markets before the Competition Appeals Tribunal, and subsequently in respect of wide-ranging investigations of alleged price fixing in the groceries sector.
  • A major global airline on price fixing allegations in air cargo and air passenger markets, including securing immunity from penalty in a number of jurisdictions.
  • A global freight forwarding company in respect of investigations into alleged price fixing.
  • Major parties in UK market investigations in relation the audit, energy and banking sectors.
  • A leading global airline (as complainant) to secure beneficial settlement outcomes in respect of supply of aircraft parts and components (before the European Commission); and divestment of airport remedy slots (before the European Commission and UK CMA).
  • A number of leading global companies for the design and implementation of competition compliance systems and controls, including: execution of competition risk and audit assessments; design of policy and guidelines; design and provision of online and in-person training programs; implementation of whistle-blowing systems; design and provision of dawn raid training and response systems, including mock dawn raids.