Stewarts is the UK’s leading disputes-only law firm and considered the market leader in bondholder and shareholder disputes in England and Wales. Most corporate law firms represent only defendants, while we frequently represent claimants as well.

As a disputes-only firm, with no transactional departments, and the resources and expertise to succeed we are able to act against the largest financial institutions.

Why choose Stewarts?

• Large specialist commercial dispute team comprising over 70 lawyers the majority of whom specialise in financial disputes;
• Resources to handle and run large scale disputes against FTSE 250 companies;
• Expertise, knowledge and understanding our clients’ needs mean we are able to settle the vast majority of disputes avoiding expensive court/arbitration appearances
• Innovative and willing to offer funding packages to reduce the upfront costs of the dispute for clients.

Recent bondholder and shareholder disputes include:

• Successfully 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”.
• Acting for Kaupthing in Kaupthing Hf v Deutsche Bank and the BVI liquidators of two BVI special purpose vehicles in Chesterfield and Partridge v Deutsche Bank and others, both cases relating to the alleged sale by Deutsche Bank of credit linked notes (CLNs) to the special purpose vehicles.
• Representing mezzanine lenders in proceedings against senior lenders and JP Morgan Europe Ltd (as security trustee) arising out of a forced restructuring.
• Acting for 313 institutional investors in a major action against the Royal Bank of The case concerned the accuracy of the bank’s 2008 rights issue prospectus on which the bank raised £12bn. We achieved a landmark settlement for these shareholders.
• Representing a number of institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, public pension schemes and local authorities across the globe in claims against Tesco Plc arising from Tesco’s misreporting of profits. The claims were filed as section 90A/schedule 10A Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) claims, and all these shareholder claims against Tesco Plc were successfully resolved.