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

The Court of Appeal has held that, where an auditor negligently failed to detect management’s dishonest concealment of the claimant’s insolvency, it was liable for the losses suffered by the claimant in continuing to conduct its loss-making business: Assetco Plc v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2020] EWCA Civ 1151. While the decision recognises that a … Read more

On an appeal from the Court of Appeal of the British Virgin Islands, the Privy Council has considered the damages that should have been awarded to a contractor as a result of the BVI Government’s breach of contract in failing to provide a prepared project site to enable the contractor to install a water reclamation … Read more

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Sevilleja v Marex Financial Ltd [2020] UKSC 31 has been eagerly anticipated by financial institutions and brings much needed clarity in respect of the so-called “reflective loss” principle, first established in Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd (No 2) [1982] Ch 204. By a majority of 4-3, the … Read more

The High Court has held that a supplier of soft toys was entitled to restitution of the value of the services it had provided to a toy designer, in anticipation of a contract to mass produce the developed toy. The judge further found that a claim in restitution for services provided in anticipation of a … Read more