Emily Wigoder

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Emily is CEO of Ad Astra. She is a First Class Graduate from the University of Oxford, and has founded both the only independent Art Law website in the UK, as well as the Society for Art Law.

She has spent time as a provenance research intern for Christie’s, and as an editorial intern for Phaidon, the largest global arts publishing house. She has written a range of articles concerning issues within the art world, and has been published in the ArtsProfessional, alongside several other publications.

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Max Shreeve-McGiffen

CO-FOUNDER & CKO

Max is a current Bar Course student, and Law Graduate from the University of Oxford and UCL, currently working with XReg Consulting on public policy around virtual assets. He has written on cryptocurrency law for leading publications such as Society of Computers and Law, and frequently writes on current legal issues.

He runs a blog, the UK Public Law Blog, which is now in the top 5 most read Public Law Blogs in the UK. He has recently spent 3 months as a Paralegal at Hassans International, Gibraltar’s largest law firm, where he worked with many leaders in the crypto/DLT industry.

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Rowan Pennington-Benton

LEGAL COUNSEL

Rowan’s mainstay practice is in commercial, chancery and insolvency. He also advises and acts on public law and regulatory matters. He has a busy domestic and international practice, appearing in a variety of courts as well as arbitration and adjudication proceedings.

He regularly appears in the High Court and other courts and tribunals in high value and complex commercial disputes, with specialist experience in development, property, construction and investment sector disputes. Much of his work is multi-jurisdictional, including conflicts of law, recognition and enforcement and cross-border asset preservation.

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Sir Simon Davenport QC

CHAIRMAN

Simon Davenport QC is a senior commercial and chancery silk who specialises in commercial disputes, civil fraud, insolvency, international arbitration and professional negligence cases both domestically and internationally. He has been described as “a first-rate silk” and a “fearless advocate”.

Simon has been a trustee of the Contemporary Art Society since 2014, and has a personal interest in Viennese Actionist artworks, having previously lent his collection to both the Tate Modern and the Courtauld Institute.

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Philip Hoffman

POSITION

Philip Hoffman founded The Fine Art Group in 2001. It was the first fund of its type to invest in art. Since then, Philip has developed the business into an international market leader in art investment, art finance and art advisory. Before launching The Fine Art Group, Philip spent 12 years working for Christie’s auction house. He joined from KPMG, and at 33, became the youngest member of the Management Board and later served as the Deputy CEO of Europe.

As a leading expert in art investment Philip is regularly asked to comment on the art market by the international press, including CNN, BBC, and The New York Times. Philip is also on the Development Boards for The National Portrait Gallery, London, and CW+, the charity for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

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Ray Kelvin

POSITION

Ray Kelvin CBE is the founder and former chief executive of the retail clothing retail company Ted Baker. He started working in his uncle’s menswear shop in Enfield at the age of eleven and founded the Ted Baker brand in 1988 when he opened a shop specialising in men’s shirts in Glasgow.

Aaron Payas

POSITION

Aaron Payas’ practice enables his clients to leverage all the advantages Gibraltar offers as a proof of concept jurisdiction in financial services. Marrying a traditional practice in fund establishment with industry-leading work, Aaron has been instrumental in many clients’ achievements in the challenging distributed ledger technology space.

His current areas of focus include DeFi, crypto, and tokenisation of assets. Aaron has assisted in the creation of the first three regulated crypto funds in Gibraltar – he has also assisted in the listing of Canadian-based fund The Bitcoin Fund (QBTC.U) on its second listing the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, only the second of its kind to be listed in the EU at the time.

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