The recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Taberna Europe CDO II Plc v Selskabet (formerly Roskilde Bank A/S) (In bankruptcy) [2016] EWCA Civ 1262 provides welcome clarity for issuers on the scope of their potential liability under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 (the “1967 Act”) and the use of disclaimers to restrict that scope. The Court of Appeal … Read more

Overview In O’Hare v Coutts, the High Court dismissed a claim alleging that the defendant bank breached duties in contract and tort to use reasonable care and skill when recommending five investments that the claimants entered between 2007 and 2010. The Court held that the bank’s duties when giving advice required proper communication and dialogue with the … Read more

The High Court has rejected the argument that dealings between Goldman Sachs (“GSI”) and the Libyan Investment Authority (“LIA”) crossed the line from an ordinary arm’s length bank-client relationship to a relationship which gave rise to duties of candour and fairness. It held that, in the absence of any such protected relationship, (i) GSI did … Read more

We have published our latest Banking Litigation Update, summarising some of the more important cases and developments affecting UK financial institutions over the past six months, including: MIS-SELLING CLAIMS Property Alliance Group v RBS transferred to the Financial List: top tips for parties wishing to successfully transfer proceedings Suresh Sivagnanam v Barclays Bank: High Court … Read more

The recent decision of the Commercial Court in Novus Aviation Limited v Alubaf Arab International Bank BSC(c)[2016] EWHC 1575 (Comm), serves as a cautionary tale to any financial institutions that regularly use letters of commitment. The Court found that a letter of commitment, which was expressed to be “conditional upon satisfactory review and completion of documentation“, was … Read more

In Alexander v West Bromwich Mortgage Company Ltd[2016] EWCA Civ 496, the Court of Appeal considered the right of a lender to rely on standard term mortgage conditions that contradicted the special conditions of a “tracker mortgage”. In particular, the case concerned whether the lender could rely on two provisions in its standard term mortgage conditions … Read more

Following a series of decisions considering similar issues, the High Court has again granted a bank’s application to strike out an interest rate hedging product (“IRHP“) mis-selling claim on the grounds that it was out of time under the Limitation Act 1980 (the “Act“): Qadir & Hussain v Barclays Bank plc [2016] EWHC 1092 (Comm). Finding in … Read more

The recent decision of the Court of Appeal in Playboy Club London Ltd & Ors v Banca Nazionale Del Lavoro SPA [2016] EWCA Civ 457 is an interesting clarification of the legal principles that apply to bankers’ references. The commercial effect of the judgment is that, if a request for a bank reference: deliberately chooses not to reveal … Read more