Commercial Mediation for Complex Financial and Business Disputes
Resolving high-value disputes with commercial insight and financial expertise
Commercial and Financial Dispute Resolution
Mike Bass is a commercial mediator specialising in complex disputes, particularly those involving banking and financial services.
He works on matters where financial structure, risk and decision-making are central — including banking and financial services disputes, shareholder and partnership conflicts, and professional negligence claims. His background in international banking and financial markets allows him to engage effectively with technically complex issues and the commercial realities behind them.
When to Instruct
High-value or commercially significant disputes
Financial structure central to the issues
Technically complex or document-heavy
Breakdown in relationships between parties
Need for financial markets credibility
Senior decision-makers involved
Relationship preservation is a priority
Mediations can be conducted in person or remotely, including for parties based outside London and internationally.
Areas of Work
Banking and financial services disputes
Derivatives and structured products
Shareholder and partnership disputes
High value and international divorce
Professional negligence (particularly financial context)
Complex commercial contract disputes
Estate and trust disputes involving significant assets
Mike has extensive experience in financial markets, including derivatives, foreign exchange and complex financial products, and regularly works on disputes involving banking and financial services. This experience allows him to address questions of structure, valuation and appropriateness with confidence, and thereby to focus on the key commercial issues at play in the mediation.
Approach
Mike’s approach is calm, structured and commercially focused.
He works with parties to distil complex issues to their essentials, helping them move beyond positional arguments toward realistic and workable outcomes. Financial clarity is often central to that process.
He is comfortable working with represented parties, senior decision-makers, and large volumes of documentation.
Alongside his mediation practice, Mike brings extensive experience of leading complex, international businesses. His career in banking involved managing large teams, navigating high-pressure environments and making decisions where financial, operational and human factors were closely intertwined.
This background informs his approach to mediation. He is attuned to the organisational and interpersonal dynamics that often sit beneath commercial disputes, and to the pressures facing decision-makers on all sides. His academic background in organisational psychology further supports his ability to understand behaviour, manage difficult conversations and help parties move towards realistic and workable outcomes.
Professional Background
Mike is a CEDR UK Panel Mediator, registered with the Civil Mediation Council.
He has also developed expertise in international arbitration through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ programme. Alongside his dispute resolution work, he is active as a charitable Trustee.
Mike trained with CEDR in Commercial and Workplace Mediation as well as Early Neutral Evaluation, and with CIArb in International Arbitration.