Dispute Resolution

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High Court upholds FCA’s first use of “name and shame” powers

By Chris Webber on Posted in Dispute Resolution, Investigations, Motor finance, Regulation
The High Court’s judgment in R (Claims Protection Agency Limited) v Financial Conduct Authority is a milestone for regulatory publicity. In a case closely watched by the financial services community, the court upheld the FCA’s decision to publicly identify a regulated firm as the subject of an enforcement investigation under its new “exceptional circumstances” publicity … Continue Reading

Closing the Open Justice gap by widening public access to court documents

By Christian Toms on Posted in Banking, Contracts and Agreements, Crypto-Assets, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime
Since 1 January 2026, a two-year pilot is now running in the English Commercial Court (including the London Circuit Commercial Court) and the Financial List which changes how public access to court documents works. If you are involved in litigation in these courts, documents used or referred to in public hearings during the Pilot period … Continue Reading

The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 – Why It Matters

By Christian Toms on Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Crypto-Assets, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime, Regulation
On 2 December 2025, the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 (the “2025 Act”) came into force. The Act confirms that digital assets can attract personal property rights even though they fall outside traditional classifications. The Act is deliberately short, leaving the development of this new category of personal property, and the rights that may … Continue Reading

The end of the road for motor finance claims? The hotly awaited decision in Johnson v FirstRand (and others)

By Katherine Wakeham and Helena Clarke on Posted in Dispute Resolution, Litigation Funding, Mis-Selling
Those (including us) tuning in on Friday afternoon to hear the Supreme Court’s decision in the combined appeals of Hopcraft and another v Close Brothers Limited; Johnson v FirstRand Bank Limited (London Branch) t/a MotoNovo Finance; and Wrench v FirstRand Bank Limited will not have been alone. Rarely is a judgment as eagerly anticipated as … Continue Reading

A New Gateway for Cross-Border Enforcement: Hague Judgments Convention Comes into Effect in the UK on 1 July 2025

By Lucy Webster and Thulasy Packianathan on Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution
The Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (the “Hague Judgments Convention”) will come into effect in the UK on 1 July 2025.  The process of enforcing UK judgments[1] in other contracting states (including all EU Member States (except Denmark), Ukraine and Uruguay) … Continue Reading

Court of Appeal reaffirms stance on fiduciary duties in half-secret commission cases

By Chris Webber on Posted in Banking, Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution
Some years it seems like there are no cases of any real importance. 2025 is not one of those years. Last week a strong Court of Appeal doubled down on a key element of the landmark Johnson v FirstRand decision on secret commissions in motor finance (about to be heard before the Supreme Court). In … Continue Reading

High Court upholds use of omnibus claims in mass motor finance litigation

By Chris Webber on Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution
A recent High Court decision in claims brought by thousands of claimants against motor finance providers has reaffirmed the validity of using omnibus claim forms in large-scale consumer litigation. The ruling has implications both for the many motor-finance mis-selling claims pending before the courts and also for mass claims in a variety of other contexts.… Continue Reading

APP fraud – might banks have a “retrieval duty” ?

By Christian Toms on Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime
Following on from our Blog post and article from November of last year that looked at the potential liabilities of banks and related parties in the context of authorised push payment (“APP”) frauds, the recent decision of Master Brown in CCP Graduate School Ltd v National Westminster Bank PLC & Anor [2024] EWHC 581 (KB) … Continue Reading

Anatomy of a fraud series – Powers afforded by search and imaging orders

By Christian Toms on Posted in Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime, Investigations
Search orders Search orders are a form of interim, mandatory injunction which require a respondent to allow the applicant’s representatives to enter the respondent’s premises and search for, copy and remove documents or material for the purpose of preserving evidence and/or property which is or may be subject to an action.  Search orders are, therefore, … Continue Reading

Opening salvo – enforceability of litigation funding agreements in a post-PACCAR world?

By Christian Toms on Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution, Litigation Funding, Regulation
The recent interim judgment of Therium Litigation Funding A IC v Bugsby Property LLC [2023] EWHC 2627 (Comm) appears to give us an early indication of what might become key battlegrounds between Third-Party Funders and certain funded litigants in the wake of the Supreme Court’s impactful determination in R (PACCAR) v Competition Appeal Tribunal [2023] … Continue Reading

Push-ed Back – Supreme Court Considers Quincecare Duty for Authorised Push Payment (“APP”) Fraud Victims

By Chris Webber and Katherine Wakeham on Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime
On 12 July 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its widely anticipated judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC. In doing so, the Court has gone back to basics to explain the basis for and scope of a bank’s duty to its customers, and has brought the Quincecare duty back to a narrower footing. By … Continue Reading

COVID-19 and the Courts

By Chris Webber and Katherine Wakeham on Posted in Dispute Resolution
Whilst we all try to settle in to our new working from home routines, and maintain social distancing measures, the civil justice system is also having to find ways to adapt. Early messages from Court system that it would be ‘business as usual’ quickly proved impossible; but over the past week there have been procedures … Continue Reading

Watch out! Communications referenced/reproduced in settlement agreements might lose without prejudice or litigation privilege from production

By Squire Patton Boggs on Posted in Dispute Resolution
In BGC Brokers LP & others v Tradition (UK) Ltd & others, the Court of Appeal dismissed BGC Brokers LP’s (“Claimant“) appeal against an order allowing inspection by several other defendants of an unredacted settlement agreement between the Claimant and Simon Cuddihy (“Third Defendant“).… Continue Reading

English Court of Appeal judgment recognises the importance of industry standard ISDA Master Agreement terms when challenged by a competing jurisdiction clause in a financing agreement

By Chris Webber and Squire Patton Boggs on Posted in Dispute Resolution, Regulation
The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a jurisdiction clause that elects the English courts in an ISDA Master Agreement prevails when the underlying swap transaction forms part of a wider financing arrangement that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Turin courts: BNP Paribas SA v Trattamento Rifiuti Metropolitani SPA [2019] EWCA Civ 768.… Continue Reading
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