Alvarez & Marsal hires sports experts Jonathan Brown and Felix Vetter
Alvarez & Marsal has welcomed Jonathan Brown and Felix Vetter as Managing Directors in its Disputes & Investigations and Sports practices. Both join in London.
Jonathan Brown advises clients on investigations, disputes, and regulatory matters. He has additional experience in transactions and particular depth in the sports sector.
His investigation work focuses on allegations of fraud, corruption, and financial misconduct and frequently involves parallel UK and US enforcement. Brown has acted as an expert and shadow expert in disputes involving accounting irregularities or the conduct of senior management and directors. He has extensive experience in stressed and failed businesses, including matters involving insolvency, asset recovery, and misfeasance.
Brown has significant experience in the sports sector, including conducting ethics investigations, forensic reviews, and governance assessments for multiple international sporting federations. He has given expert evidence before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and in proceedings relating to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules. He advises investors, leagues, clubs, and governing bodies on acquisitions, investments in sports infrastructure, and counterparty risk.
Brown joins from Ankura, where he was a Senior Managing Director and co-lead of its Global Investigations & Forensic Accounting practice. Earlier, he spent more than 15 years at Control Risks and EY.
“I’m incredibly happy to get started, have had the warmest of welcomes, and am looking forward to reuniting with Felix – a long-time travel companion to some of the world’s least hospitable destinations, and my partner in crime in many of the sports regulatory matters I’ve worked on over the years,” said Brown.
His “partner in crime”, Felix Vetter, has followed a similar career path to Brown – he too joins from Ankura and previously worked at Control Risks and EY. He similarly has deep sectoral experience in sport, having been involved in numerous high-profile cases and prosecutions concerning breaches of financial regulations in England and Europe.
Vetter also regularly supports sports governing bodies with forensic investigations, forensic accounting, and advice on governance and integrity frameworks.
Throughout his career, he has undertaken assignments across several other sectors globally, with particular experience in the UK, Europe, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East.
“The opportunity to build out the Sports Advisory practice at Alvarez & Marsal, working with a hugely impressive cross-service-line group heavily involved in major deals, disputes, infrastructure projects, performance improvement and regulatory matters in the sector, was difficult to pass up,” said Vetter.
