The High Court has found in favour of a lender in its claim against a dissolved airline business for sums due under a loan facility agreement (which was secured by an aircraft mortgage): Lombard North Central plc v European Skyjets Ltd [2022] EWHC 728 (QB). This decision will be of broader interest to financial institutions … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP have published an article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on a recent cryptocurrency case, Wang v Darby [2021] EWHC 3054 (Comm), which applies established principles relating to trusts, proprietary injunctions and worldwide freezing orders to this new asset class. Despite the meteoric rise of cryptocurrency as an asset class, … Read more

In a recent ruling in the FX litigation, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has ruled for the first time that collective proceedings can only proceed on an opt-in basis, rather than the opt-out basis sought by the class applicants: Michael O’Higgins FX Class Representative Limited v Barclays Bank PLC and Others; and Mr Phillip … Read more

The High Court has held that cryptoasset systems and software developers did not owe a duty to cryptoasset owners to permit or enable access to the assets where the owners had lost control over the assets following a hack: Tulip Trading Limited v Bitcoin Association for BSV [2022] EWHC 667 (Ch). This is an important judgment … Read more

The High Court has found in favour of a global financial brokerage business in its claim for unlawful means conspiracy against several businesses and individuals in the context of a repo fraud: ED & F Man Capital Markets Limited v Come Harvest Holdings Limited & ors [2022] EWHC 229 (Comm). The decision will be of … Read more

This week, the Court of Appeal handed down an important judgment considering the scope of the so-called Quincecare duty: Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2022] EWCA Civ 318. Historically, the Quincecare duty has arisen where a bank receives a payment instruction from an authorised signatory of its customer, and executes the order, in circumstances … Read more

In a decision handed down this morning, the High Court has found that a tax QC who had prepared opinions for the promoter of film finance tax schemes did not owe a duty of care to the investors in those schemes – and that even if he had owed a duty, the views he expressed … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP have published an article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the anticipated focus areas for litigation against BBLS lenders now that collection and recovery activities have begun. During the pandemic, the coronavirus loan schemes provided more than £75bn of government funding, … Read more