Our expertise in banking and financial disputes

We are widely recognised as the ‘go to’ law firm for litigation involving major banks and global financial institutions, acting for both claimants and defendants.

Our proven track record of success and significant wins for our clients has attracted some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, multinational corporations and high net worth individuals, all of whom trust us to resolve their most high-stakes, business-critical disputes swiftly and successfully.

Our banking litigation expertise encompasses acting on cases across the full breadth of finance and trade lifecycles, from advising on litigation risks at the pre-contentious stage to acting on highly sensitive disputes between institutions.

With over 100 lawyers in our commercial disputes group, we have the resources and expertise to handle heavyweight litigation. We also offer clients in-house technical banking and quantitative expertise, with one of our partners previously the head of derivatives at a leading investment house.

Our exceptional client service and unwavering commitment to the most successful outcomes are reflected by the 2025 Legal Business report, which ranks the most highly recommended law firms based on independent client feedback. Stewarts is ranked eighth out of the 100 most recommended law firms.

In further recognition of the complex nature of our litigation work and the continued confidence of the high-calibre clients instructing us, nine of our cases have appeared in The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases list in the last five years.

Our recognised expertise in fraud aligns closely with our banking work, providing clients with an additional, often strategically essential tool in their litigation, increasing the chances of a successful outcome.

Our team has substantial experience in structuring innovative cost and risk-sharing arrangements for clients, and we were among the pioneering firms in this space. As part of our continued commitment to allowing our clients to litigate from a position of financial strength, we developed a litigation funding product, Stewarts Litigate. Stewarts Litigate was launched as a ground-breaking after-the-event (ATE) insurance facility designed to protect clients from the exposure to adverse costs in litigation.

Banking and financial disputes cases

• Acting for the Public Institution for Social Security, Kuwait, in a landmark claim of in excess of $2bn against over 40 international defendants, including multiple financial institutions. This included managing related proceedings in more than 10 other jurisdictions, including the US, the UAE, Switzerland, Monaco, various Caribbean countries, Liechtenstein, Singapore, the Philippines and France. The 12-month trial, one of the largest and longest to take place in England, concluded in March 2026.
• Defending Tavira Monaco SAM against a banking fraud claim of around $275m brought by one of Mexico’s richest individuals in relation to stock-backed lending transactions in which Tavira acted as custodian, with related proceedings in Monaco.
• Acting for the joint liquidators of Arena and related companies in a Quincecare claim against the Bank of Scotland plc and Lloyds Bank plc in relation to a Ponzi scheme arising from asset-backed lending perpetrated by Arena’s former directors, which resulted in around £280m of losses.
• Acting for the joint liquidators of Kijani Resources Limited and Ratio Limited against NatWest in a claim worth around $100m. Both companies were key components of a fraudulent investment scheme in which funds invested in a Mauritian fund were dissipated through a network of related entities.
• Acting for the liquidator of Transworld Payment Solutions against First Curaçao International Bank N.V. in its appeal against a first instance judgment of over £200m arising from Transworld’s alleged involvement in a large-scale Missing Trader Intra-Community (carousel) fraud and the movement of funds through offshore banking structures.
• Acting for a foreign bank in relation to multiparty proceedings regarding the enforceability of government guarantees supporting over €500m of loans and a related arbitration dispute in relation to contested insurance coverage.  
• Acting for Fortress and other investment funds against BNP Paribas in a claim for approximately $60m arising out of the issue of a defective $650m Islamic bond (sukuk) issued by Golden Belt.
• Defending Kazakhstan against the Bank of New York Mellon and the Stati parties in relation to the attempted enforcement of a $500m arbitration award obtained by fraud.
• Defending a major mining company against claims brought by mezzanine lenders for alleged breaches of a commitment letter providing for up to $400m of lending.
• Acting for defendants against allegations of a fraud of over £1bn in relation to a complex trading structure brought by the Danish tax authority (SKAT).
• Acting for 313 institutional investors against the Royal Bank of Scotland in the first securities litigation of its type under section 90 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FMSA). The case concerned the accuracy of the bank’s 2008 rights issue prospectus, which raised £12bn.
• Acting for Kaupthing and the BVI liquidators of two BVI special purpose vehicles against Deutsche Bank and others in related cases, both cases relating to the alleged sale by Deutsche Bank of credit-linked notes (CLNs) to the special purpose vehicles (associated with Kaupthing), where the reference entity was Kaupthing. The proceedings concerned matters that were also the subject of criminal proceedings in Iceland and a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation in England.
• Representing mezzanine lenders in proceedings against senior lenders and J.P. Morgan Europe Ltd (as security trustee) arising out of a forced restructuring of an automotive parts manufacturer. The senior lenders sought declarations that the restructuring was valid. The mezzanine lenders counterclaimed for declarations that the restructure was void or voidable in equity and of no effect. They also sought damages or equitable compensation from J.P. Morgan for alleged breaches of duty, including fiduciary duties.
• Acting for LBI hf in its claim for damages of €24m from Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG and Raiffeisen Bank International AG in relation to the termination of a global master repurchase agreement and a global master securities lending agreement. The case raised an issue of considerable importance to the markets concerning the determination of “fair market value” in industry-wide standard-form banking agreements.