Financial services litigation

Our clients include investment banks; retail banks; private banks; insurers and reinsurers; exchanges and other infrastructure providers; asset managers and investment funds; and commodities, futures and derivatives participants.  

Our deep bench of seasoned litigators has acted in many of the most significant disputes in the industry and is acknowledged as the go-to team for the most complex, high-profile and high-stakes matters.

Go-to team for 'bet the company' matters

We represent major global financial institutions, boards of directors and special committees, and individuals on "bet the company" issues. 

From securities fraud to insider trading, money laundering, market abuse, mis-selling, investment dispute resolution, insolvency proceedings, and class action lawsuits, our litigators take a practical, holistic and commercial approach to resolving disputes as efficiently and effectively as possible. 

Unrivalled cross-practice strength

Our team is renowned for its collaborative approach and skill in harnessing the unrivalled industry, product and transactional expertise of A&O Shearman’s global finance, capital markets and corporate practices to create innovative and commercial solutions.

Working closely with our transactional teams gives our clients an edge in disputes, and this collaboration allows us to identify and pre-empt regulatory and sector trends and help our clients to mitigate future business risks. 

We are also one of the few firms with genuine experience in financial services arbitration. We handle disputes involving the most complex financial products and have advised the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on its arbitration guide.

Representative matters

• A European financial institution on multijurisdictional litigation linked to potential offenses of illicit solicitation and tax evasion between France and Switzerland, which was the subject of criminal investigations in France and administrative assistance proceedings in Switzerland. 
• A global bank in relation to litigation in the U.K. and other EU jurisdictions arising from its alleged anti-competitive conduct in the foreign exchange markets.  
• A global financial institution in the first class action in the financial sector initiated before French Courts by consumer association UFC-Que Choisir. The action was based on the alleged mis-selling by our client of a financial product to more than 12,000 private individuals and raised regulatory, civil and criminal concerns. 
• Major financial institutions including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Citigroup and Bank of Montreal, as well as leading benchmark administrators and exchanges in antitrust cases related to financial products and benchmarks including LIBOR, FX, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, credit event auctions, VRDO/municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries, GSE bonds, European government bonds, Mexican government bonds, CDOR, BBSW, silver trading, precious metals, ISDAfix, SSA bonds, odd-lot corporate bonds, stock lending and others. 

• Numerous underwriters in separate securities class actions arising out of stock offerings of companies such as SunEdison, TerraForm Global, ARCP, Arconic, Loma Negra, PPDAI, ZTO Express, Synchrony, Sunrun, Tesla, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Magnum Hunter Resources, MF Global, Fifth Third Bank, Focus Media, TCP International, Alnylam, MOL Global, Navient, Apigee, China Mobile Games & Entertainment, and Popular, Inc. (commonly known as Banco Popular). 
• Citigroup in various litigation in three different courts related to the bankruptcy of OSA, Mexico’s largest offshore oil services company, and Mexico’s state oil company – described as one of the largest frauds in Latin American history. Cases involved civil RICO, tort, and malicious prosecution actions and have included Second and Eleventh Circuit appeals. 
• Bank of America in a qui tam action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging violations of the False Claims Act in connection with Bank of America’s mortgage servicing business.  
• Four banks in successfully defending in successfully defending against misrepresentation claims brought by Marme Inversiones regarding the EURIBOR benchmark, seeking to rescind interest rate swaps or recover damages in excess of EUR996 million.