Neema Griffin is a Managing Director with Teneo’s Financial Advisory business, having joined Teneo in 2022 following its acquisition of KPMG’s Cayman Islands Restructuring business.
Neema has over 15 years of insolvency experience with a specialism in contentious and complex insolvencies, involving high value litigation, fraud investigations and international asset tracing, personal bankruptcies and fund insolvencies. Neema started her career in the UK and prior to joining Teneo, Neema had worked at KPMG since 2013, joining the Cayman team in 2015. Since moving to the Cayman Islands, Neema’s industry focus has been on financial services.
Neema is a UK licenced insolvency practitioner.
Selected Project Experience:
- Premier Assurance Group – Regulator instigated liquidation of a large provider of life and health insurance products. Neema’s role includes investigations, control of assets actions and coordinating a distribution to over 7,000 creditors.
- China Fishery Group – A complex and multi-jurisdictional provisional liquidation of Cayman Islands registered entity with primary business dealings in Hong Kong and Per requiring steps to secure and protect the group’s assets, including change of control of key subsidiaries and attending to hostile challenges to the liquidators’ appointment.
- WGF Feeder Fund – The official liquidation of a Cayman Islands investment grade wine fund with assets in France and the majority of creditors based in Asia. Neema’s role included the consideration of legal claims available in Singapore along with investigations and preparation of evidence obtained in a Court examination of the fund’s principal. Neema was central to negotiations with potential litigation funders and communications with the Fund’s liquidation Committee.
- Vantage Drilling Company – A post chapter 11 official liquidation of a Cayman Islands’ registered company in the oil and drilling industry. In addition to key responsibility for a $5m settlement in a class action claim, Neema held a lead role in the assisting the liquidators with the strategy and negotiations with a highly litigious stakeholder, including attendance at a negotiation meeting in Taiwan.
- Project Yale – Court Appointed Receivership with pre judgement liabilities of circa $7bn and assets located in over 30 jurisdictions. Neema’s primary responsibility was to oversee the liquidation of an Austrian company, which forms part of an extensive and complex network of in excess of 1,000 companies subject to the Receivership Order. Neema also supervised and monitored an extensive disclosure exercise.
- Enforcement Receivership over the Antigua and UK based assets of an individual convicted for a £60m drug trafficking operation. As sole point of contact, Neema regularly negotiated with imprisoned defendant ensuring co-operation and assistance. Neema developed a strategy in attempts to realise land and property located in Antigua following regular consultation with solicitors in the jurisdiction.
- Alcohol Diversion, Provisional Liquidations – Neema co-ordinated a team of over 20 staff and agents in executing search orders in respect of 4 companies involved in an alcohol diversion fraud and subject to enforcement action by the UK tax authorities.
- Neema has lead number of voluntary liquidations of solvent investment vehicles with outstanding regulatory reporting obligations, working closely with service providers to facilitate the timely winding up of these structures and distribution of funds to stakeholders in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands.
- UK high profile and contentious bankruptcies – Neema has extensive experience of leading complex and contentious bankruptcy matters of high profile and high net worth individuals in the UK, frequently leading interviews of the debtors.