As markets watch the Strait of Hormuz again, airlines, refiners and energy-intensive businesses face a familiar question: how do they protect themselves against violent swings in energy prices?

The answer, more often than not, is derivatives. And the disputes those instruments generate are already starting to unfold.

Over the next seven pieces, this series examines the case for mediation across the main categories of banking and finance dispute: derivatives and structured products; banking and lending; asset management and investment; shareholder and joint venture disputes; corporate finance; trusts and wealth management; and the frontier questions raised by private credit and digital assets.