Image of Xavier Taton

Xavier Taton

Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations Partner, Brussels

“I assist clients with risk analysis and management and help them resolve their business-critical disputes. I specialise on financial services, energy, telecom, regulatory investigations and human rights-based defence cases. I aim to help clients make sense of complex contentious situations, offering clear, concrete and obtainable solutions.”

Overview

Professional Experience

Education and qualifications

Overview

Xavier is an expert in civil procedure and international private law, with emphasis on financial services, energy, telecom, regulatory investigations and competition law. He also has specific experience in defending undertakings against harmful State legislations before civil courts, constitutional courts, the European Court of Human Rights and the EU institutions. 

Work highlights

Xavier has advised on a wide range of disputes. Those that can be disclosed include:

  • representing P&V Assurances and its subsidiary Private Insurance in post-M&A arbitration claims and dozens of parallel litigations/settlement discussions with policyholders resulting from tax issues with life insurance policies
  • representing ENGIE Electrabel in various legal proceedings before the Markets Court, the Constitutional Court, the European Court of Justice and the tax court directed against the “surplus revenue tax” for breach of EU law as well as the fundamental rights to property, non-retroactivity and non-discrimination
  • assisting ORES Assets and its shareholders in challenging the methodologies for the calculation of the energy distribution tariffs imposed by the Walloon regulator CWaPE
  • acting in judicial review proceedings concerning decisions of the telecom regulator IBPT before the Markets Court
  • assisting an industrial company in several follow-on damage claims and settlement discussions across Europe arising from sector-wide cartel investigations by competition authorities
  • assisting an industrial company in a mediation process regarding a complex public-private partnership
  • defending ageas in numerous legal proceedings that have been launched following the rescue transactions that safeguarded the continuity of Fortis Bank in 2008, including claims for damages by former shareholders and claims by former bondholders to unilaterally extend the maturity date of hybrid bonds
     

 

Professional Experience

Xavier is one of the Linklaters team that contributes to the United Nations Global Compact, which is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

Education and qualifications

Xavier studied law at the University of Brussels.

 

He speaks English, French and Dutch.