3 Verulam Buildings is first-class; very commercial and very experienced in banking and finance.

- Chambers & Partners UK Bar (2022)

Banking & Finance

3VB is a premier banking and finance set. Our members have been involved in some of the highest-value, highest-profile global disputes before the English courts. Acting for and against banks, members of chambers at all levels are routinely instructed in the most significant banking disputes and inquiries of the day.

3VB is a premier banking and finance set regarded as “one of the best sets for banking litigation”[1] with a strength-in-depth from our baby juniors through to our most eminent silks.  Banking & finance has consistently been a core strength and speciality of 3VB, which is continuously ranked in Band 1 by both legal directories. In 2023, 3VB was awarded Banking & Finance Set of the Year and Banking Silk of the Year.

Our members have been involved in some of the highest-value, highest-profile domestic and international disputes before the English courts. Acting for and against banks, members of chambers at all levels are routinely instructed in the most significant banking disputes and inquiries of the day.

Historically, 3VB has been at the forefront of ground-breaking banking and financial disputes and inquiries, including the bank charges “test” case in the Supreme Court; the interest rate hedging and PPI “mis-selling” scandals; the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) concerning the 2012 LIBOR scandal and the collapse of HBOS during the Financial Crisis; the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Plevin v Paragon Finance concerning unfair relationships and PPI commission claims; the £1.4 billion claim against the RBS in relation to the bank’s 2008 rights issue; and multiple claims relating to alleged LIBOR and exchange rate manipulation.

Highlights of 3VB’s recent and ongoing work includes:

  • Philipp v Barclays Bank plc [2022] EWCA Civ 318: concerning the scope of the Quincecare duty and the circumstances in which a bank is put on inquiry relating to APP fraud.
  • PCP Capital Partners LLP v Barclays Bank plc [2021] EWHC 307 (Comm): defending Barclays in the high-profile £1.6 billion dispute brought by financier Amanda Staveley (the principal of PCP) relating to Barclays’ £5.8bn capital raising during the financial crisis.
  • Raiffeisen Bank International AG v Asia Coal Energy Ventures Limited & Ashurst LLP [2020] EWHC 2602: concerning a $70m claim by the bank arising out of ACE’s takeover of Asia Resource Minerals plc, one of Indonesia’s largest coal producers.
  • National Bank of Kazakhstan & the Republic of Kazakhstan v The Bank of New York Mellon; Anatolie Stati; & Others [2020] EWHC 916 (Comm) (and others): two sets of proceedings, including an appeal to the Court of Appeal, concerning attempts to enforce a $500m arbitral award against Kazakhstan – the first remote trial in the Financial List during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Vatche Manoukian v Societe Generale Banque Liban [2022] EWHC 669 (QB): concerning international banking transfer rights under Lebanese law.
  • Suppipat v Narongdej and ors: a claim of over US $2 billion in an alleged fraudulent conspiracy to deprive them of shares in a Thai energy company and strip it of its assets.
  • JSC Commercial Bank Privatbank v Kolomoisky & Others: concerning allegations that the defendants misappropriated funds from the claimant bank in an alleged fraud worth over $1.9 billion.
  • Clydesdale Bank tailored business loans: concerning allegations made by business customers in relation to losses arising out of entry into these lending products.
  • Various claims, including regulatory enquiries, arising out of the former HBOS Reading branch fraud scandal.
  • Various claims in relation to alleged LIBOR manipulation.

As this profile demonstrates, 3VB’s expertise extends into the regulatory, fraud (including money laundering and POCA disputes) and international sphere and 3VB’s members are uniquely placed to handle all aspects of banking and finance business, ranging from the international capital markets to trade finance to consumer credit. Members appear in both English and overseas courts and before arbitral tribunals worldwide.

In recognition of 3VB’s members’ pre-eminence in this area, the 16th edition of Paget’s Law of Banking, the leading banking law textbook in the UK and in many other jurisdictions, was written and edited almost exclusively by members of chambers, published most recently in 2023.

Winner: UK Bar Awards 2023
The Lawyer Awards 2022: Chambers of the Year