Banking Litigation Seminar 2014

Current Issues in Banking Litigation

Wilberforce Chambers are delighted to invite you to an evening seminar on three topics of current interest to Banking & Finance lawyers.

Whilst principally concerned with contentious matters, the topics will also be of interest to lawyers providing advisory or drafting services.

Talks include:

• “Claims against banks caught up in fraud.” Nicholas Medcroft

Banks are popular defendants in commercial fraud. Since the fraudsters themselves will frequently have disappeared, or be insolvent, victims of fraud look to deep-pocketed defendants who have provided assistance to the fraudsters (wittingly or otherwise).

Nick will provide an overview of some of the private law claims which may be brought against banks caught up in fraud. The focus will be on claims for dishonest assistance, knowing receipt and unjust enrichment. He will highlight some of the recent case law in this area including Stone Consultants Ltd v National Westminster Bank Plc [2013] EWHC 208 (Ch) and Williams v Central Bank of Nigeria [2014] UKSC 10.

• “Islamic Finance for the Banking litigator.” Rupert Reed QC

In 1974, the Dubai Islamic Bank opened as the first Islamic commercial bank. A survey of some 500 Islamic financial institutions less than 40 years later revealed that there were some £1.3 trillion of global Islamic assets, up 150% over 5 years that included a global economic crisis, with significant flows of Islamic finance passing through London.

Rupert will look at the various underlying ethical principles that are applied in determining whether a transaction is Shari’ah compliant or riba (usury), with a view to understanding the structure of most common financing contract, the Murabahah, and a common form of investment contract, the Mudarabah. He will finish by considering how Islamic law can be deployed under English law in construing a financial instrument, how the English Courts have approached Islamic contracts written under English law subject to Shari’ah law, and the limited extent to which a contract can be invalidated under English law for Shari’ah non-compliance.’

• “Events of default arising from breach of LTV covenants.” James Ayliffe QC

The fall in asset property and other asset values since 2008 and subsequent recent recovery has raised some interesting issues regarding the operation of LTV covenants and lenders’ ability to rely upon breaches of such covenants as events of default.

Among other things:

— when and how is breach to be tested?
— scope for challenging an alleged breach?
— does a rising market remedy a breach so as to preclude enforcement action?
— might there be other ways to remedy the breach?
— rights to call for a revaluation?

James will consider these and related issues with the assistance of a brief case study.