In a further decision demonstrating the English court’s ability to apply the law flexibly to novel issues arising in relation to crypto assets, the High Court has granted information orders against various foreign cryptocurrency exchanges requiring the provision of information and documentation to help identify those who hold accounts into which stolen cryptocurrency was allegedly … Read more

The circumstances in which the English courts can grant permission to serve civil claims out of the jurisdiction will soon be expanded substantially, including a number of changes that could potentially make it easier to pursue cross-border fraud actions in some cases. A suite of proposals to amend and add to the existing list of … Read more

The High Court has acceded to a letter of request (LOR) from a Canadian court to order a number of banks to disclose documents for use in Canadian proceedings, but has declined to make other orders requested in the LOR. The judgment is a useful illustration of how the English courts approach such foreign judicial requests … Read more

The High Court has granted the first third-party debt order in relation to cryptocurrency in an application involving allegations of fraud related to a cryptocurrency initial coin offering.  A third-party debt order (formerly known as a garnishee order) is a method of enforcing a money judgment by recovering sums that are in the hands of … Read more

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a judge’s decision upholding a claim where the claimant had relied on evidence obtained through the unlawful hacking of the defendant’s computer. The court found that, even if the claimant was responsible for the hacking (which had not yet been established) and its case would have … Read more

The High Court has ruled on an ex parte interim application involving allegations of extensive cyber fraud relating to a cryptocurrency initial coin offering. The court granted both a worldwide freezing order and an ancillary disclosure order against the alleged fraudster, whose identity is not known: Ion Science Ltd v Persons Unknown (unreported, 21 December … Read more

We are pleased to publish the second issue of our periodic publication “Cross-Border Litigation”, designed to highlight legal and practical issues specific to litigation with an international aspect. Tapping into the expertise of the firm’s leading commercial litigators across the globe, the publication gives readers the benefit of their hands-on experience and flags key developments that should … Read more

Very often, when seeking to obtain a freezing injunction, the true extent of the defendant’s assets is unclear. Complex and opaque offshore corporate or trust structures may mask the true ownership of assets. A mere connection between a defendant and assets held by third parties will not be sufficient to freeze those assets: the claimant … Read more