Britain's highest court Friday largely overturned a lower court's ruling that certain car finance agreements were unlawful, a decision likely to bring a sigh of relief among lenders and limit the scale of compensation payments.

The UK's Supreme Court will announce a long-awaited ruling on car finance commissions on Friday that could influence whether major banks face a multibillion-pound compensation bill.

The Supreme Court sided with the lenders. Delivering the decision, Lord Reed said the appeals were allowed, ending hopes of a wider compensation scheme for millions of car finance customers. As of now, compensation is not guaranteed, but it’s still possible, depending on what the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) decides next.