Matthias Schelkens

Matthias is a managing associate in the Belgian Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations practice. In 2023, he undertook a secondment to our London disputes team.

Matthias has broad experience in business crime (including criminal, internal and regulatory investigations), corporate disputes and contentious insolvency work. He frequently acts for financial institutions, funds, private equity houses and corporates drawing from a variety of sectors. He appears before all Belgian courts and acts as counsel in national and international arbitrations, including setting aside and enforcement proceedings arising from arbitral awards. 

Matthias is qualified to practise before the Belgian Supreme Court of Cassation in criminal matters.

He frequently publishes on a variety of topics in the areas of business crime, commercial and insolvency law. He has also been an assistant lecturer in civil procedure at the University of Leuven. 

Matthias is a passionate advocate for social mobility and has been a mentor of students from disadvantaged backgrounds embarking on a career in the legal sector.

Work highlights

Matthias has acted in a wide range of corporate and criminal disputes. Those that can be disclosed include:

• representing a global bank in a myriad of cross-border insolvency disputes against an international diamond trading group and its management, also involving criminal proceedings (incl. before the Belgian Supreme Court) and insurance arbitration and litigation
• successful representation of a leasing company as civil claimant in criminal proceedings (incl. before the Belgian Supreme Court) and parallel civil litigation concerning a multi-million-euro fraud in the renewable energy sector
• successful defence of a financial institution in a criminal investigation concerning the alleged mis-selling of a private equity investment 
• representing various private equity firms and an insurance company in post-acquisition disputes (also involving fraud claims), including setting aside and enforcement proceedings resulting from the arbitral awards 
• assisting a multinational company in the food and beverage industry in a multi-jurisdictional internal fraud investigation 
• acting for a listed company in ex parte and summary proceedings relating to an M&A price adjustment dispute 
• successful defence of a multinational engineering company against charges of involuntary manslaughter in criminal proceedings brought in the aftermath of a fatal industrial accident
• representing a leading financial institution in highly contentious summary proceedings concerning the termination of a fund administration agreement
• acting for a public-private partnership in multiple ad hoc arbitrations against general contractors in the context of public infrastructure projects (DBFM)

Matthias read law at the Catholic University of Leuven (Master of Law, magna cum laude) and King’s College London, and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also studied corporate finance (postgraduate, Catholic University of Leuven) and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Music (magna cum laude) from the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music.

Matthias is qualified to practise before the Belgian Supreme Court of Cassation in criminal matters.

Matthias has authored several national and international publications on a variety of subjects. Recent publications include:

• Les enquêtes internes en entreprise : état des lieux à la suite de l’arrêt de la Cour de cassation du 23 avril 2024 et de la nouvelle loi sur la recherche privée, JT 2025, pp. 69-81 [state of play of internal investigations in Belgium] (co-author)
• Het referentietijdstip voor de beoordeling van de faillissementsvoorwaarden en de afwijking van de devolutieve werking, TBH-RDC 2024, pp. 929-934 [assessment of the state of bankruptcy on appeal (case note on Court of Cassation 23 March 2023)] (co-author) 
• “Artikel 854”, in Artikelsgewijze commentaar Gerechtelijk recht, 2024/132, pp. 77-84 (commentary on Article 854 of the Belgian Judicial Code – jurisdictional disputes) 
• Een nieuwe episode over de verhouding tussen het insolventieprocesrecht en het gemeen procesrecht, P&B 2024/1, pp. 13-18 [A new episode on the relationship between insolvency and civil procedural rules (case note on Court of Cassation 28 September 2023)] 
• Schending van het beroepsgeheim (art. 458 Sw.): “bekendmaken” vereist effectieve kennisname van het geheim, Nullum Crimen 2023, pp. 126-129 [Breach of professional secrecy: “disclosure” requires actual cognisance of the secret (case note on Court of Cassation 29 June 2022)] (co-author)
• Over de verplichting van de burgerlijke rechter om ambtshalve bewijsregels op te werpen, TBH-RDC 2022, pp. 933-942 [Obligation of civil courts to ex officio raise rules of evidence (case note on Court of Cassation 27 January 2022)] (co-author)
• Anti-Corruption – Chapter on Belgium, in the Chambers Global Practice Guide on Anti-Corruption 2022, pp. 49-65 (co-author)
• Cassatie hakt knopen door over onrechtmatig verkregen bewijs in burgerlijke zaken, TBH-RDC 2021, pp. 2032-2042 [Illegally obtained evidence in civil matters (case note on Court of Cassation 14 June 2021)]
• Negatieve prijsherzieningen: een gewaarschuwd aannemer is er twee waard, TBBR-RGDC 2021, pp. 410-418 [Negative price revision clauses]
• When in doubt… Over de interpretatie van share purchase agreements in geval van twijfel, TRV-RPS 2019, pp. 67-72 [Interpretation of share purchase agreements in case of doubt (case note on Court of Cassation 6 September 2018)]
• International Arbitration – Chapter on Belgium, in the International Comparative Legal Guide to: International Arbitration 2019, pp. 254-263 (co-author)
• Enkele bedenkingen over lopende overeenkomsten in het insolventierecht, in Curatoren en vereffenaars: actuele ontwikkelingen IV, 2017, pp. 211-240 [Reflections on executory contracts in insolvency law] (co-author)
• The Protection of the Sub Judice Principle by the European Court of Human Rights, Public Law 2017, pp. 627-642