Banking and financial markets litigation

Banking and financial markets dispute resolution is one of our core areas of strength. We have a dedicated team of partners exclusively focused on banking and financial markets litigation, led by our Head of Financial Disputes, Tom Hibbert. We specialise in claims in the investment banking and fund management sphere, particularly in the capital markets, and have extensive experience acting for institutional investors against large investment banks.

We are also well placed to act for investors and counterparties proceedings arising out of the ongoing LIBOR fixing investigations.

• "RPC maintains its reputation as one of the first ports of call for conflict referral work, and the team has built up an impressive track record in acting against banks for corporates and investors" - Chambers UK 2013
• "The team is absolutely 'first-class,' 'really superb' and 'absolutely exceptional,' and that it 'provides a fantastic service for clients'" - Chambers UK 2013
• "Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has developed a strong practice acting for investors and corporates seeking to recover losses against banks…and also has expertise in inter-bank disputes" - Chambers UK 2012
• "Tom Hibbert [is] one of the small handful of litigation lawyers in London who understand how complex financial instruments like synthetic CDOs and other structured notes work’" - The Legal 500, 2010 edition

Our areas of expertise include:

• Asset management, funds and structures
• Derivatives and structured finance - particularly disputes concerning highly complex structured products, including ABSs, CDOs, default swaps, distressed debt instruments and SIVs
• Disputes relating to financial services regulation, especially concerning directors and officers' liability
• Recoveries of assets following fraudulent or other unlawful transactions, including tracing the assets (such as bank accounts or real estate) in the UK and internationally and obtaining necessary court orders, including worldwide freezing injunctions
• Disputes arising from lending, including resolution of contractual issues, prospectus liability, such as misrepresentation, recovery of security, insolvency, title and priority issues
• Trade finance disputes arising from instruments such as letters of credit, performance bonds and guarantees

Examples of relevant work

• Acting for QVT, a New York hedge fund, in an expedited High Court trial and Court of Appeal hearing arising out of the financial restructuring of Eurotunnel. MBIA repackaged approximately £1.1bn of Eurotunnel junior debt in an SPV of which Citibank was the trustee. As part of the Eurotunnel restructuring negotiations, MBIA agreed a package whereby the SPV would receive differential treatment from other Eurotunnel creditors, which QVT alleged amounted to an undervalue in excess of £100m
• Advising our client bank as to its potential remedies arising out of a disputed derivatives trade, where the potential liability under the currency option exceeded $650m
• Acting for the asset manager of a well-known pension provider in respect of claims for investment losses in excess of £100m deriving from SIVs, synthetic CDOs, ABS FRNs and money market funds
• Acting for an investor who invested $100m in an absolute return fund managed by a well-known financial institution on the basis of representations in the prospectus as to the probability of incurring losses in excess of a specified percentage
• Acting for an investment fund seeking reimbursement from the lending banks of a multi-million arrangement fee following the non-completion of an acquisition. The claim turns on the construction of the facility agreement
• Acting for a hedge fund in a breach of confidence claim against an investment bank

For more information about our Banking and Financial Markets litigation practice, please contact Tom Hibbert (Tom.Hibbert@rpc.co.uk)