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 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

In a recent decision, in relation to an ongoing dispute as to which Venezuelan person or body has the authority to deal with certain Venezuelan assets (currently worth in excess of USD 2 billion) held in London by certain UK financial institutions, the High Court held that it would uphold the UK’s Government’s recognition of … Read more

The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favour of a bank defending a claim brought by a foreign exchange (FX) broker seeking to recover losses incurred on FX spot transactions during the 2015 “Swiss Flash Crash”: CFH Clearing Ltd v MLI [2020] EWCA Civ 1064. In doing … 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

The High Court has dismissed a claim brought by an investment company against a foreign exchange trading platform seeking to recover losses it suffered as a result of the late execution of stop loss orders (SLOs) at disadvantageous exchange rates, following the de-pegging of the Swiss Franc from the Euro in 2015: Target Rich International … Read more