A recent High Court decision has given a helpful analysis of the consequences that follow from delivering off-specification oil: Galtrade Limited v BP Oil International Limited [2021] EWHC 1796 (Comm). The underlying facts of the case come up quite often in practice, although reported decisions are less frequent. A seller delivered off-spec hydrocarbons (in this … Read more

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by a purchaser in the context of its claim for damages for fraudulent misrepresentation against the sellers of certain business assets that it had acquired. In doing so, the Court of Appeal held that damages for fraudulent misrepresentation should, as a general rule, be assessed by ascertaining … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that accessories who were jointly and severally liable with a principal as joint tortfeasors were liable to account only for the profits which they themselves had made from the wrongful acts, and not those profits made by the principal: Equities CV v Ahmed [2021] EWCA Civ 675. This gives … Read more

The Court of Appeal has struck out Quincecare duty and dishonest assistance claims brought by the liquidators of a company operating 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, which may arise in the … Read more

The Court of Appeal has substantially upheld the first instance decisions in a lengthy piece of ongoing litigation relating to a joint business venture for the exploitation of oil-extraction technology, illustrating the potentially severe consequences fiduciaries face where they put themselves in a position of a conflict of interests: Gray v Global Energy Horizons Corp … Read more

In a decision earlier this year, the Commercial Court granted summary judgment on a buyer’s claim for repayment of an advance payment, in circumstances where (on facts assumed for the purposes of the summary judgment application) the seller had been prevented from delivering product due to a force majeure event, and the buyer had given … Read more

In the first decision to consider the so-called “reflective loss” principle since the Supreme Court’s judgment in Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd [2020] UKSC 31 earlier this year, the High Court has emphasised the newly narrowed scope of the rule: Broadcasting Investment Group Ltd & Ors v Smith & Ors [2020] EWHC 2501 (Ch). As a reminder, the Supreme Court … Read more

In a recent decision, the High Court declined to strike out a claim against a bank for alleged breach of a Quincecare duty on the ground that the claimant had suffered no loss: Stanford International Bank Ltd v HSBC Bank plc [2020] EWHC 2232 (Ch). The claimant (SIB) was an insolvent Ponzi scheme. Its liquidators brought proceedings … Read more