The High Court has interpreted the contractual release in a settlement agreement as extending to unknown claims based on dishonesty and fraud, despite the terms of the release not expressly referring to such claims. The claimant was therefore precluded from pursuing further claims alleging deliberate wrongdoing following the receipt of what it said was new … Read more

A recent High Court decision has considered the operation of section 32(1) of the Limitation Act 1980, which can postpone the start of the limitation period in fraud claims until the time when the claimant has discovered the fraud “or could with reasonable diligence have done so”.  The court held that, when determining the stage … Read more

In a recent decision, the High Court has rejected a claim for misrepresentation, finding that although a fraudulent misrepresentation had been made it had not induced the claimant to enter into the relevant transaction: Ahuja Investments Ltd v Victorygame Ltd [2021] EWHC 2382 (Ch). The decision highlights the dangers of failing to lead evidence of reliance … Read more

In an appeal against two High Court decisions, the Court of Appeal has found that a fiduciary relationship is not a necessary pre-condition to relief in respect of an undisclosed commission paid to an agent. Instead, the court should determine whether the agent was obliged to provide information, advice or recommendation on an impartial or … Read more

The Court of Appeal has struck out Quincecare duty and dishonest assistance claims brought by the liquidators of a company running a Ponzi scheme against a correspondent bank that operated various accounts for the company. In doing so, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the scope of the Quincecare duty is limited to protecting customers of the financial institution, … 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

In a recent decision, the High Court has struck out claims against a defendant bank alleging implied fraudulent misrepresentations in relation to LIBOR, on the basis that the claimants had failed to plead that the alleged representations were actively present in their mind when entering into the products in question and therefore the claim stood … 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