After a 38 day trial, Mrs Justice Asplin handed down a 187 page judgment just before Christmas in the long-running Property Alliance Group Ltd v The Royal Bank of Scotland plc case. She rejected claims of mis-selling, breach of good faith obligations and misrepresentations associated with LIBOR. Property Alliance Group sued RBS over four interest … Continue Reading
Mr Marsden was in the business of buying, restoring and selling pubs and hotels, financed by loans from Barclays. In July 2006 he entered into an interest rate swap with the bank to hedge floating rate loans of £1.6 million advanced to buy two pubs in Suffolk and Derby (£750,000 and £850,000 respectively). The swap … Continue Reading
In our blog post “Shift towards a PPI cut-off deadline reported” (24 June), we explained that internal documents had revealed that the FCA was backing a call by banks for the introduction of a two year cut-off for new PPI claims. The official FCA announcement was made on 2 August 2016. It confirmed that the … Continue Reading
Forex hit the headlines once again in late July, after the arrest of HSBC global head of forex cash trading (Mark Johnson) at JFK airport in New York. The US Department of Justice alleges that Mr Johnson (and Stuart Scott, who was HSBC’s head of forex cash trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa … Continue Reading
For the next in our breakfast roundtable series, Laurence Winston and I will be joined by intelligence and investigations specialists James Stothard and Damian Ozenbrook of Blue Square Global to look at tracing and recovering stolen assets. Following on from our well-received recent roundtable session on how to react to a cyber-theft or fraud, we … Continue Reading
Background The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) hears references from decisions and supervisory notices issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and other specified regulators. In this case three references were made by two former employees of Deutsche Bank (Messrs Bittar and Vogt) and a former Barclays Bank employee (Mr Moryoussef). The references related … Continue Reading
Derivatives can be used to hedge, speculate, or a hybrid of the two. An astute gambler may claim his strategy is like a “naked” derivative: a calculated attempt to profit from a mismatch between the odds and the chances of the bet paying out. But is a buyer using derivatives doing the same thing as … Continue Reading
Since the shock Brexit vote on 23 June there have been big movements in a number of financial markets, as participants of all types reposition themselves for the period of uncertainty that the leave vote has ushered in. Regardless of the eventual terms of a UK exit from the EU, market movements that have already happened can be … Continue Reading
In October 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority published a statement confirming its intention to consult on the introduction of a deadline by which Payment Protection Insurance (“PPI“) mis-selling claims must be brought, accompanied by a consumer communication campaign. Comments on the FCA’s proposals were invited before 26 February 2016. The FCA has not as yet … Continue Reading
The claimants in Templars Estates Ltd and others -v- National Westminister Bank Plc and another (10 June 2016) had issued court proceedings against two banks alleging negligence in relation to advice given about interest rate hedging swaps. The trial was unlikely to be listed until sometime in 2018. They sought a stay of proceedings in … Continue Reading
In an April 2016 Financial List decision by Mrs Justice Asplin in Diane & Michael Hockin and Lonwest Ltd v Royal Bank of Scotland plc and National Westminster Bank plc [2016] EWHC 925 (Ch), the Bank unsuccessfully applied for strike out of parts of the mis-selling claim issued against them by the Claimants. The Claimants had … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Playboy Club London limited & Ors v Banca Nazionale Del Lavoro Spa will be welcomed by banks that provide financial references in relation to their customers. It provides useful guidance to follow when providing or requesting references: Banks should draft references carefully and consider limiting liability to specific recipients … Continue Reading
Claims Management Companies (“CMCs”) are businesses that offer legal claims management services to the public. Many CMCs typically process large numbers of complaints against financial services companies. PPI and interest rate hedging product complaints are of particular focus at present. In 2015, there were approximately 1,752 CMCs in the industry (down from a peak of … Continue Reading
Last Thursday (28 January 2016) the Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Terence Etherton, ordered that Property Alliance Group’s ongoing £89 million claim against the Royal Bank of Scotland should be transferred to the Financial List. The case relates to allegations of mis-selling of four interest rate swaps, and includes claims that the swaps should be … Continue Reading
The recent High Court decision in Property Alliance Group Ltd v Royal Bank of Scotland clarifies the meaning of the “dominant purpose” test in the context of the litigation privilege definition, and how it is applied where a party has obtained recordings of conversations through deception. Background The Court granted RBS’s application to inspect audio … Continue Reading
At the end of last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) released a discussion paper concerning its approach to small or medium sized enterprises (“SMEs”) as users of financial services. As part of this, the FCA seeks industry feedback on whether it should change the rules concerning the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”). … Continue Reading
Investment mis-selling claims remain a prominent feature of the litigation landscape, particularly when it comes to interest rate swap products. In our experience, claimants often ask for specific disclosure of similar customer complaints by defendant financial institutions, in an attempt to strengthen a weak claim or to try to embarrass the institution into settlement. Compliance … Continue Reading
Financial institutions have developed a trusted template for responding to recent major regulatory controversies. Faced with a regulatory investigation, banks today will usually form an internal working group to take ownership of the issue. That working group will in turn hire a law firm to carry out an internal investigation and report back. The bank … Continue Reading
Introduction The recent High Court decision in American Leisure Group Limited v Olswang LLP demonstrates that if a Claimant issues proceedings on the eve of limitation but gets the Defendant’s name wrong, it runs a very serious risk (as here) of not being allowed to substitute the correct Defendant. Claimants and their lawyers beware. The … Continue Reading
Introduction The recent Court of Appeal decisions in Graiseley Properties v Barclays Bank and Deutsche Bank v Unitech have understandably been attracting much attention and comment. Certainly, if Graiseley’s and Unitech’s LIBOR-based cases were to succeed at trial, the implications for trillions of pounds worth of LIBOR-related debt obligations and derivatives are truly mind-boggling. But … Continue Reading
