Commercial disputes

A Privy Council judgment delivered simultaneously with the Supreme Court decision in Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse International. Lord Hodge delivered two important judgments on how to define and identify the “matters” which give rise to stay of legal proceedings in favour of arbitration (in England under Section 9 Arbitration Act 1996) and certain other related issues. In doing so, these Courts have dropped the overly “granular” approach adopted by English Courts recently and opted for a more nuanced and analytical approach favoured by the Australian courts. The legal analysis in the two decisions is more or less identical.

Read the FamilyMart Holding v Ting Chuan judgment here.

In a judgment handed down on 20 September 2023 following the trial of preliminary issues, the Deputy Judge of the Commercial Court held that it is not a rule of private international law that a final and binding foreign judgment on the merits must be enforceable in the foreign jurisdiction before it could be the subject of an application to ‘enforce’ the foreign judgment in this jurisdiction by a claim at common law, and dismissed the sixth defendant’s application to set aside a default judgment the claimant had obtained against the first defendant, as (i) there was accordingly no arguable defence, and (ii) the sixth defendant had not satisfied the Denton criteria.

Read Invest Bank v El-Husseini judgment here.

A high-profile contractual claim brought by Hollywood actress Eva Green against film producers. She claimed she was entitled to her million-dollar fee for the film, despite its cancellation, under the terms of their agreement.

Read the Eva Green v White Lantern Film and SMC Speciality Finance LLC judgment here.

A US$1 Billion damages claim, which arose out of the collapse of NMC PLC, a former FTSE 100 company, and its operating subsidiaries in the UAE, all of which are now in administration in England and Wales and the UAE. The claimant is an Abu Dhabi-based bank, and the first to third defendants are the former private shareholders in NMC PLC. The Bank alleged that the defendants are responsible, with others, for a serious fraud that appears to have taken place within the NMC Group of companies. The defendants all deny involvement in the fraud.

Read Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC v Shetty & others judgment here.

A multi-million euro, multi-faceted fraud claim in the Cayman Islands that made new law on the Cayman Fraudulent Dispositions Law.

Read Raiffeisen Bank v. Scully Royalty Ltd & Others judgment here. 

South Africa’s largest ever private sector accounting fraud scandal. Alleged payments totalling approximately €95 million are said to have been made fraudulently. The case raises issues of German, Austrian, Swiss and BVI law.

The latest chapter in the long running and high-profile litigation instigated by the LIA seeking to recoup funds invested during the Gaddafi dictatorship in Libya. Successfully defended fraud and corruption claims to the value of £200m.

Read The Libyan Investment Authority v Credit Suisse and others judgment here.

One of the largest frauds ever perpetrated involving some 118 banks which together lent a total of $126 billion over two decades.

Court of Appeal case concerning the question of the Court’s power to order rectification of the register to reverse the administrative restoration of an LLP where the restoration had been obtained through the provision of fraudulent material.

Read Grupo Mexico v Registrar of Companies judgment here.

A complex multi-jurisdictional case involving one of Greece’s largest shipping families and their ownership of shares in two Liberian Corporations, which raises multiple conflicts of law issues and matters relating to fraudulent misappropriation of shares.

Read Lemos v Blue Diamond Corporation and Stegasis Corporation judgment here.

Supreme Court case establishing that a person who applies to set aside an earlier judgment on the basis of fraud does not have to demonstrate that the evidence of this fraud could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence before the earlier trial.

Read Takhar v Gracefield Developments Limited [2019] judgment here.

Resisting an application in the Commercial Court for immediate enforcement of an arbitral award of almost $3 billion granted in an SCC arbitration.

One of The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases of 2018”. Claims against the former Managing Director and Finance Director of the Claimant company for breach of duty and conspiracy, in connection with benefits provided to the directors from the Claimant company’s pension scheme.

Read KeyMed Ltd v Michael Woodford and Paul Hillman judgment here.

Supreme Court case; acting on behalf of Cavendish in relation to the continued existence of the doctrine of penalties in both commercial and consumer contracts.

Read Cavendish Square Holding BV v Makdessi judgment here.