In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has confirmed that the terms of an English law facility agreement in respect of Tier 2 Capital, allowed the borrower to withhold payment of interest instalments where there was a risk of secondary sanctions being imposed on the borrower under US law. In the view of the … Read more
The High Court has held that personal guarantees signed by the chairman and sole shareholder of a borrower company were enforceable, dismissing arguments that emailing scanned signature pages was insufficient to constitute “delivery”, or that the doctrine of promissory estoppel was engaged to prevent the lender from calling on the guarantees where certain alleged assurances … Read more
We have just released our monthly update podcast, in which we discuss and debate the key recent judgments likely to be of interest to financial institutions. This episode is hosted by John Corrie, a partner in our banking litigation team, who is joined by Ceri Morgan and special guest Alice Whyte. You can also listen … Read more
In a written statement on 23 June 2020 made by Rishi Sunak, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UK Government has announced its intention to introduce a legislative solution for the transition of so-called “tough legacy” LIBOR-linked products. It intends to include measures in the forthcoming Financial Services Bill to ensure that, by end-2021, the … Read more
The latest development in the Bank of England’s (BoE) attempts to support the adoption of SONIA in cash products – and to speed up the transition away from LIBOR-linked products – is the publication of its response to the consultation it conducted into the publication of a SONIA index: Supporting Risk-Free Rate transition through the … Read more
The economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic inevitably exposes businesses to heightened legal risk. In particular, counterparties may seek to delay, avoid performance and/or terminate agreements. This may be either because COVID-19 has legitimately prevented them from performing their contractual obligations, or because they are seeking to use the pandemic as an excuse to … Read more
Herbert Smith Freehills have contributed the England and Wales chapter of The Securities Litigation Review. Now in its sixth edition, The Securities Litigation Review, edited by William Savitt of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, is a guided introduction to the class action regimes for securities claims in the key jurisdictions across the globe, providing a … Read more
A recent High Court decision is a good example of the court’s willingness to deal with questions of contractual interpretation on a summary basis in an appropriate case, without the need for a full trial. However, it also highlights the difficulties that will be faced in successfully striking out a defence based on the common … Read more
Another recent High Court decision has considered the question of privilege in a regulatory context: A v B & Anor [2020] EWHC 1491 (Ch). As with other recent decisions of this kind, the issue arose in the context of an auditor required to produce documents to its regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”). The decision … Read more
