On 5 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in the case of R (on the application of KBR, Inc) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office [2021] UKSC 2 concerning whether the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) can require a foreign company to produce documents held overseas, pursuant to its investigation powers under section 2(3) of … Read more

The High Court has dismissed an application by a group of unidentified investors for Norwich Pharmacal relief (or, alternatively, pre-action disclosure under CPR 31.16) in relation to a potential GBP £50 million damages claim against the defendant bank for an alleged breach of contract/negligence in connection with the sale of various tax mitigation schemes: Zeus … Read more

This month, there have been some significant regulatory announcements in relation to climate-related disclosures. These announcements are a result of the increasing focus on climate change and sustainability risks across governments, regulators and industry and a continued move towards corporate compliance with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations. While not launching new … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP have published an article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s proposals for regulating climate-related disclosures and the litigation risks which may arise for issuers from such proposals. Climate change has been part of the political and regulatory discourse for years. However, it … Read more

In a recent decision in the group litigation brought in respect of the Ingenious Media film partnerships the High Court has ruled that each claimant should provide disclosure in relation to their investment history, as this may be relevant to: (a) their financial sophistication and risk appetite, which may in turn inform the scope of … 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

The High Court has held that a bank waived privilege in all contemporaneous communications with its lawyers relating to particular transactions that were alleged to be a sham, as the bank had deployed the lawyers’ advice that the transactions were lawful in order to support its case on the merits. That was regardless of whether … Read more

Burford Capital, one of the largest litigation funders, has been in the press regularly since the publication of a series of tweets and opinion pieces by Muddy Waters (the US investment firm) which also short-sold Burford shares. These events triggered a period of weakness in Burford’s share price. Burford contended that its share price fell … Read more