Rupert heads the award-winning Banking Litigation practice in the UK.
Rupert heads the award-winning Banking Litigation practice in the UK and specialises in advising banks and other financial institutions on a wide range of contentious issues.
He has led many high-profile cases, including working with a client on one of the largest banking disputes that has been brought before the Commercial Court in London.
He leads the Banking Litigation team which is tier one ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Rupert is himself ranked as "hall of fame" in Legal 500 UK, 2023 as well as a "Dispute Resolution Star" in Benchmark Litigation Europe, 2020 and is described as being "in a class of his own - robust under pressure and great in high-value banking claims" and '‘commercially astute, excellent with clients and inspires loyalty in his team’' (Legal 500 UK, 2017) and "has shown that he can handle even the most challenging cases superbly" (Legal 500 UK, 2018) and "has established himself as one of the foremost banking litigators in the City; he has excellent industry knowledge and tactical judgement. In addition, he is greatly valued by his clients for his communication and matter management skills." (Legal 500 UK, 2020). "He's very dedicated, brilliant and adaptive in his approach." "Rupert is an excellent litigator." "A very straight-talking and calm operator." (Chambers & Partners 2021). "An undoubted star in financial litigation. Very clever. A good strategist and excellent client manager." (Legal 500 UK, 2022). A "top lawyer in his field" (Legal 500 UK, 2023). "Rupert has brilliant client skills and is a delight to work with; he's very thoughtful". "The perfect manager of a complex case" (Chambers & Partners 2024) "The perfect litigator. Hands on, a good team manager, strategically aware and client friendly." (Legal 500, 2024).
Rupert’s expertise includes advising clients on mis-selling claims (in relation to a wide variety of investment products, including complex derivatives), securities class actions, fraud claims, banking confidentiality, contractual disputes, jurisdictional disputes and professional negligence claims. Many of the matters Rupert has worked on involve parallel regulatory and criminal investigations or proceedings.
He has first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of financial institutions having spent over a year in-house, including a senior secondment to the litigation team of a major UK bank.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- an international bank in relation to a GBP 500 million securities class action
- Societe Generale in relation to a USD$1.5 billion claim by the Libyan Investment Authority in relation to a series of derivative trades. The claim was successfully settled
- Lloyds Banking Group in relation to a large number of interest rate swap disputes
- a large, international bank in relation to threatened civil claims arising from breaches of US sanctions
- an international bank in relation to the successful settlement of Euro 130 million claim involving allegations of bribery and transactions outside of capacity
- Credit Suisse in successfully defending against a US$30 million mis-selling claim brought in the Commercial Court in London by an ultra–high net worth individual in connection with structured notes
- a large private bank in relation to a series of mis-selling claims arising from a life assurance structured investment product
- a major commercial bank in relation to claims arising out of foreign exchange derivative transactions
- a major insurance company in relation to claims arising out of broker managed funds
- Bernie Ecclestone (former CEO of the Formula One Group) in relation to a series of disputes arising in connection with bribery allegations
Sectors
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