The Court of Appeal has allowed parties to two claims against LIBOR panel banks to amend their pleadings to include allegations that the banks made implied representations relating to the accuracy of LIBOR. In doing so, the Court held that the amendments were sufficiently arguable so as to have a real prospect of success. This … Read more

Green & Rowley v Royal Bank of Scotland plc [2013] EWCA Civ 1197 The Court of Appeal has handed down its decision in the first interest rate swap mis-selling case to come before the English courts since June 2012 when the FSA (now the FCA) announced a review into the sales of interest rate hedging products. In a ruling that will be … Read more

On 31 May 2013, new European legislation was passed to amend the Regulation on credit rating agencies which was first introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Its primary objective is to help discourage the high level of reliance which has typically been placed by market participants on credit ratings. However, amongst its most … Read more

The ongoing regulatory investigations into the manipulation of LIBOR have prompted much speculation about the possibility of claimants bringing private law actions against banks based on the regulators’ findings. In the first cases to come before the UK courts, the Court of Appeal has recently granted permission to appeal two High Court decisions as to … Read more

BNY Corporate Trustee Services Limited v Eurosail-UK 2007-3BL PLC [2013] UKSC 28 The Supreme Court has delivered a judgment providing welcome clarification on the construction and effect of section 123(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the “balance-sheet” insolvency test) and its interaction with section 123(1)(e) of the Act (the “cash flow” insolvency test).The decision is relevant not just to creditors presenting winding-up petitions in respect of insolvent debtors but also to the wider banking industry, … Read more

BMA Special Opportunity Hub Fund Ltd & Ors v African Minerals Finance Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 416 (read the judgment here) The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court decision construing a finance agreement such that a borrower’s prepayment of a loan facility following a voluntary refinancing with another lender did not trigger a prepayment fee … Read more

Basma Al Sulaiman v  (i) Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited; and (ii) Plurimi Capital LLP [2013] EWHC 400 (Comm) In a strongly worded judgment, the Commercial Court has dismissed a large misselling claim brought by an individual in connection with a number of investments she had made in structured notes on a leveraged basis.  The claim … Read more

Welcome to our banking litigation update where we consider important decisions for financial institutions over the first half of 2012: The 1992 ISDA Master Agreement: Court of Appeal provides clarity on payment obligations owed to insolvent counterparties Lomas v JFB Firth Rixson Inc [2012] EWCA Civ 419 The Lehman client money judgment: Supreme Court upholds Court … Read more