Foreword

Welcome to our banking and financial markets litigation summer update for 2026. Here, we share our insights on some of the key developments in the financial services sector and related litigation in the first half of the year, and the trends for the second. This review is brought to you by RPC’s market-leading Banking and Financial Market Disputes practice, part of RPC’s wider Financial Services sector offering.

The turbulence of 2025 has continued in the first half of this year. Gold hit record highs at the end of January before shedding 20% of its value. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz caused the price of Brent crude to surge to almost double that at the start of the year, with prices on a broadly downward trajectory since May before ticking up with the resumption of hostilities in July.

Sluggish growth, inflationary pressures and fiscal uncertainty have driven up yields for UK gilts, with the US also experiencing increased inflation and borrowing costs. Ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the expansion of associated financial sanctions regimes, are likely to continue to impact financial markets and counterparties globally.

The first half of the year has seen increased volatility in equity markets, with events affecting sectors differently. Commodities and energy providers have often benefited from the leap in oil prices. Whereas technology stocks, in particular software firms, have experienced a general dip in share value – even when posting strong results.

Private credit continues to be in the spotlight, with the collapse of Market Financial Solutions in the UK following those of First Brands and Tricolor in the US. Resulting concerns regarding underwriting standards and asset valuations in the sector have given rise to a sharp increase in redemption requests from retail investors – with claims emerging on both sides of the Atlantic.