Home / Europe / United Kingdom / Dispute Resolution / Financial Regulatory Disputes

Financial Regulatory Disputes

Back to Dispute Resolution

Comprising three partners supported by around a further 20 lawyers, we are a long-established team specialising in contentious regulatory matters, helping clients in their dealings with the PRA, the FCA and other UK and overseas financial regulators. Contentious regulation is our practice, so we understand regulatory expectations and what can actually be achieved in practice in what are often complex situations. We act for the full range of financially regulated firms across the retail and wholesale sectors as well as listed companies. We give clear, practical and confident advice on how to manage contentious matters and help clients deal with financial regulators on a daily basis.  

We handle the full range of contentious regulatory work including: 

  • Contested approvals, authorisations and other applications
  • Regulatory investigations and enforcement action against firms and individuals
  • Enquiries, both internal and external
  • Governance, SMCR and personal accountability reviews
  • Internal investigations including advising on whistleblowing, conduct risk and conduct rule breaches
  • Regulatory notifications
  • Skilled person reviews
  • Remediation and redress projects
  • Market monitoring enquiries, market abuse and other market misconduct – both civil and criminal
  • Financial crime – controls, investigations and remedial work
  • Supervisory actions
"The team is responsive, extremely knowledgeable, commercial, strategic and technical."
Legal 500 2022

We form part of one of the largest free-standing financial regulatory teams in the City and work alongside our advisory and transactional colleagues so that our clients benefit from lawyers who combine in-depth knowledge of the regulatory framework with a firm grasp of how markets and products work.  We are often involved in matters at an early stage and, by advising on remedial steps and optimal approaches, are able to help our clients successfully avoid regulatory intervention or action.  

Our specialist finance disputes teams  in London and Bristol, who undertake the full spectrum of litigation and arbitration, work closely with us to offer a fully joined up service to financial institutions.  Many of our disputes lawyers have gained hands-on experience working in-house in banks or other financial institutions.

"The team functions incredibly well as a whole. I feel CMS’s knowledge of what we do, our approach and the wider industry overall is exceptional."
Chambers 2022, Client feedback

Helping clients identify and manage risk to avoid the reputational damage and cost of a potential regulatory issue or dispute is an essential part of the value we offer.  We offer reviews of governance, procedures and controls as well as bespoke training sessions for senior managers and staff.   You are also invited to our regular seminars covering in-demand topics such as the new consumer duty, complaints handling, individual accountability, remediation projects and market abuse. 

Highlights of our experience in Financial Services Disputes in the UK
A large UK insurer on significant regulatory issues arising in its business and sales process. Our advice has helped the client to avoid regulatory action and a s166 skilled person requirement and enabled...
Law-Now: Dispute Resolution
Visit Law-Now for legal know-how and commentary
Advising the Board

Feed

23/11/2022
Protection from protests
Protest on the streets, protest online, even litigation used as a vehicle for protest. Protestors targeting a business may be standing in a crowd, holding a placard or shouting slogans. But they may also be behind a computer screen or pursuing a claim against the business through the courts. They may even be working inside the business, preparing to compromise its systems or leak confidential information. Whether they are activists, employees or customers, all these protestors may present a substantial challenge and a real threat to businesses, in areas including its security, reputation and bottom line. 
15/03/2022
Cyber and Data Breach Claims
We are pleased to invite you to a series of seminars for 2021/22 delivered by the CMS Financial Lines Insurance Team. A key theme observed by our team over recent years is the growing complexity of Financial...
08/02/2022
Class Actions in the UK
We are pleased to invite you to a series of seminars for 2021/22 delivered by the CMS Financial Lines Insurance Team. A key theme observed by our team over recent years is the growing complexity of Financial...
09/11/2021
Claims against Asset Managers
We are pleased to invite you to a series of seminars for 2021/22 delivered by the CMS Financial Lines Insurance Team. A key theme observed by our team over recent years is the growing complexity of Financial...
05/10/2021
Handling Complex Coverage Issues
We are pleased to invite you to a series of seminars for 2021/22 delivered by the CMS Financial Lines Insurance Team. A key theme observed by our team over recent years is the growing complexity of Financial...
20/07/2021
Claims against Directors arising from Insolvency
We are pleased to invite you to a series of seminars for 2021/22 delivered by the CMS Financial Lines Insurance Team. A key theme observed by our team over recent years is the growing complexity of Financial...
10/09/2020
Privilege: What you need to know
Privilege is an important, and complex, issue that arises in contexts ranging from investigations and expert reports, to multi-party litigation and settlement negotiations, as well as day-to-day com­mu­nic­a­tions...
18/04/2017
Disputes digest
Welcome to our Spring edition of Disputes Digest. In this edition, we look back at 2016 and summarise the key litigation and arbitration cases of 2016 for corporate counsel to be aware of. We also...
29/09/2016
Disputes digest
Welcome to the fourth edition of Disputes Digest, featuring commentary and analysis on the latest developments in dispute resolution across the UK and beyond. Over the summer, the debate over the legal...
25/11/2015
Disputes Digest - current legal issues affecting the market
This edition contains updates and commentary on a range of issues, including articles on the High Court’s ‘Financial List’ which is now up and running, current trends in pensions litigation, key...