The High Court has dismissed a Part 8 claim against a bank for allegedly failing to provide an adequate response to the claimant’s Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs). This is a noteworthy decision for financial institutions, particularly those with a strong retail customer base, as it highlights the robust approach that the court is willing … Read more

The High Court’s judgment in Gareth Hamblin and Marilyn Hamblin v World First Limited and Moorwand NL Limited [2020] EWHC 2383 (Comm) is the first decision to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling in Singularis Holdings Ltd v Daiwa Capital Markets [2019] UKSC 50, considering the so-called Quincecare duty of care (see our banking litigation blog … Read more

The High Court has dismissed two IRHPs mis-selling claims by claimant investors against various defendant banks for losses alleged to have been suffered as a result of fraudulent misrepresentation or a unlawful means conspiracy: Boyse (International) Limited v Natwest Markets Plc and The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc [2020] EWHC 1264 (Ch); and Elite Properties … Read more

The trend of claims against financial institutions alleging breach of the so-called Quincecare duty continues to grow, with the most recent judgment from the High Court refusing to strike out such a claim on the ground that the claimant had suffered no loss because it was an insolvent Ponzi scheme. A parallel claim against the … Read more

The High Court has today handed down judgment in the COVID-19 Business Interruption insurance test case of The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch and Others. Herbert Smith Freehills represented the FCA (who was advancing the claim for policyholders) in the case, which considered 21 lead sample wordings from eight insurers. Following expedited proceedings, the judgment brings … Read more

The recent announcement by the FCA of its consultation into liquidity mismatch in authorised open-ended property funds (CP20/15), has once again cast a spotlight on the risks arising from mismatches between the redemption periods offered by investment funds and the liquidity of the underlying assets. The focus of the current FCA consultation is on funds … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP have published an article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on the principal characteristics of third party litigation funding in the securities class action markets in Australia and England and Wales. In Australia, the rise of securities class actions over the last decade has been driven in part … Read more

The Court of Appeal has recently had the opportunity to consider, once again, the so-called “SAAMCO” principle in AssetCo plc v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 1151. While many reported decisions considering the SAAMCO principle arise in the audit and accountancy sector (including the present case), it is often a key and difficult issue … Read more