Michael Bass FCIArb is a commercial mediator and qualified arbitrator specialising in complex disputes, particularly those involving banking and financial services.
Before moving into dispute resolution, he spent over thirty years in banking and financial markets, including senior roles running global business lines in fixed income, derivatives, foreign exchange and commodities. He was a member of regional and global management teams at Standard Chartered Bank, RBC Capital Markets and Westpac Banking Corporation, and served as a board member of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).
That background allows him to engage quickly with both the technical detail and the commercial realities behind a dispute.
Michael is typically appointed in matters where financial structure and decision-making are central — including financial services disputes, shareholder and partnership matters, professional negligence claims, and asset-heavy estate or trust conflicts. He is comfortable working with represented parties and with large volumes of documentation.
His approach is calm, structured and commercially focused. He works with parties to distil complex issues to their essentials and to move beyond positional arguments toward realistic outcomes. Financial clarity is often central to that process.
Alongside his mediation practice, Michael qualified in international arbitration through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ programme.
He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (MA Economics) and holds a MSc in Organisational Psychology from Birkbeck, University of London. He is a CEDR UK Panel mediator and a Civil Mediation Council Registered Mediator.
Trust, Discretion, Creativity, Expertise
As a mediator - committed to the resolution of disputes - my first priority is to build a foundation of trust with the parties. The conversations that make up a mediation require discretion and confidentiality.
Assisting the parties to identify a potential agreement often requires creativity, and sometimes the confidence to navigate financial complexity.
Perhaps most importantly I can draw upon many years of experience of leading and facing the challenges of running a business.
“Thank you for getting us over the line. Your intuitive grasp of the valuation issues was invaluable.”
In-house Counsel, Financial Services
“Measured, authoritative and highly effective — he brought clarity and momentum at key moments in a complex mediation.”
Senior Counsel
“Anyone coming from outside the banking industry might not appreciate the scale and complexity of the senior roles Mike successfully undertook, and therefore the breadth of experience he brings to his work as a mediator. As a trader who worked under his calm leadership, I can attest to all those things.”
GK, Hong Kong
“What I found working with Mike was his remarkable breadth of thinking and imagination. He would come up with things that might initially seem too ambitious or somewhat disconnected from my intended direction of travel, but then I came to realise that he had simply thought and seen bigger, broader, deeper than I had. He supported me to see new angles, subtleties and approaches which, on my own, I may never have appreciated.”
SF, Singapore