Dispute Resolution

Subscribe to Dispute Resolution RSS Feed

Forgoing an Unmeritorious Defence held to be Good Consideration by Court of Appeal

By Squire Patton Boggs on July 31, 2019 Posted in Dispute Resolution

The Court of Appeal in Simantob v Shavleyan [2019] EWCA Civ 1105 has held that an unmeritorious defence was good consideration for the variation of a settlement agreement, which resulted in payment to the creditor of a lesser sum than the debt due.… Continue Reading

New Disclosure Pilot Scheme – Now In Force

By Chris Webber and Katherine Wakeham on January 8, 2019 Posted in Dispute Resolution

Think of a fairly common situation; you receive an email from a third party with three colleagues in copy, you forward this email to your colleagues with comments, one responds and you then reply to the third party. Later, a dispute between your company and the third party arises. When you consider that this short … Continue Reading

Courts prepared to scrutinise and limit Norwich Pharmacal Orders

By Squire Patton Boggs on December 4, 2018 Posted in Dispute Resolution

A Norwich Pharmacal Order (“NPO“) forces a third party to disclose documents or information to an applicant. These Court orders are typically used to identify a proper defendant to a claim or to get information to enable someone to set out their case in Court documents. The respondent to an NPO application is generally not the defendant to … Continue Reading

No Contractual Duty Owed to Customers by Banks when Conducting FCA Review into IRHPs

By Mariyam Harunah on August 10, 2018 Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution

The Court of Appeal in Elite Property Holdings Limited, Decolace Properties Limited v Barclays Bank Plc [2018] EWCA Civ 1688 considered the appellants’ Application for permission to appeal against the Mercantile Court Judge’s decision to strike out part of the Appellants claims against the Respondent Bank. Whilst the application concerned permission to appeal, this was the first occassion on which … Continue Reading

Court guidance on whether “first past the post” is really a legal principle

By Squire Patton Boggs on May 3, 2018 Posted in Dispute Resolution

The Commercial Court has recently handed down its judgment in the case of Midtown Acquisitions LP v Essar Global Fund Limited and Others [2018] EWHC 789. The decision provides useful guidance on whther “first past the post” is really a legal principle when it comes to charging orders.… Continue Reading

Court of Appeal decision brings reassuring clarity for judgment creditors

By Squire Patton Boggs on April 27, 2018 Posted in Dispute Resolution

The Court of Appeal recently heard an appeal from the Central London County Court, in which a judgment debtor (“L”) appealed a decision than an application to pay a judgment debt by instalments had been refused – Diana Loson v Brett Stack, Newlyn Plc [2018] EWCA Civ 803.… Continue Reading

Mastercard, the next instalment. The retailer strikes back

By Squire Patton Boggs on February 12, 2018 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

The previous four episodes of the Mastercard saga (as detailed in our previous blog posts) focussed on a number of legal battles between Mastercard and both consumers and retailers. These disputes have centred on Mastercard’s alleged “uncompetitive” interchange fees and restrictive rules on cross-border acquiring. The latest claim by retailers follows a class action brought on … Continue Reading

Overcoming the principle of “reflective loss”

By Chris Webber and Michael Davar on November 1, 2017 Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution

In an important recent decision the Commercial Court confirmed the availability of specific performance of a shareholder’s rights under shareholder agreements as a means to dodge the difficulties created for shareholders by the principle of ‘reflective loss’. Background Facts Oceanic Trans Shipping Est was one of three shareholders in two joint venture companies, who owned … Continue Reading

Update: CAT declines the grant of a collective proceedings order in Walter High Merricks CBE v MasterCard Incorporated and others [2017] CAT 16

By Squire Patton Boggs on September 13, 2017 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

Background As mentioned in our blog posted on 20 September 2016, MasterCard was facing one of the UK’s first class-action lawsuits, following the introduction of collective proceedings under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This allows for collective proceedings to be brought in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) on an opt-out basis, by representatives of consumers … Continue Reading

Retailers Consortium v MasterCard – an update on ongoing MIF litigation

By Squire Patton Boggs on June 20, 2017 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

Background Our previous blog piece (20 September 2016) described how, in 2007, the EU found that MasterCard’s Multilateral Interchange Fees (“MIFs“) were unfairly high. This decision was applicable to cross-border transactions using MasterCard and Maestro cards in the European Economic Area (“EEA“). The finding was that Mastercard’s MIF breached Article 101 of the Treaty on the … Continue Reading

Court of Appeal rejects Titan Class X claim: speedread Q & A

By Chris Webber on February 3, 2017 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

(This article was first published on Lexis®PSL Banking & Finance. Click for a free trial of Lexis®PSL) What was the appeal about? Credit Suisse Asset Management (“CSAM”) was the originator of Titan 2006-1, a commercial mortgage backed securitization (“CMBS”). The Titan 2006-1 SPV (“Titan”) issued eight tranches of bonds (A to H) for a total of EUR 723 million. It used the proceeds to … Continue Reading

FCA chief calls for dispute resolution mechanism for small firms

By Squire Patton Boggs on January 24, 2017 Posted in Dispute Resolution, Regulation

The Yorkshire Post has reported that Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority, is working with Parliament to develop an adequate and independent complaint resolution for SMEs who believe that they have been badly advised or “mis-sold” a product by a financial institution. Mr Bailey notes that the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) exists predominantly … Continue Reading

MasterCard faces one of the UK’s first class-action lawsuits

By Chris Webber on September 20, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

Class Actions in the UK Class actions have long been a feature of the US legal landscape. But until October 2015 there was no genuine “class action” procedure in the UK. Then the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (“CRA“) introduced collective proceedings that can be brought in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT“) by representatives of consumers … Continue Reading

Class X Noteholders granted permission to appeal inconsistent judgments

By Chris Webber on July 4, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

As previously reported on this blog, April saw two important judgments in the Titan and Windermere Class X cases. Those decisions have implications for both “CMBS 1.0” structures that include Class X notes in them, and for the wider financial markets in terms of how the courts are approaching disputes over the interpretation of finance … Continue Reading

Structured Finance in the Courts: Five Things We Learned From the Class X Cases

By Chris Webber on May 25, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

As regular readers will know, April brought two big judgments for the CMBS and structured finance markets in the Windermere VII CMBS and Titan Europe CMBS Class X cases. Now that the dust has settled, it is worth stepping back and looking at the wider perspective of what the decisions mean for future deals, the prospects … Continue Reading

Latest news: High Court rejects four more Class X claims

By Chris Webber on April 29, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

Following hot on the heels of the High Court rejecting Hayfin’s claims of underpayment of interest on the Class X notes in Hayfin Opal Luxco SARL v Windermere VII CMBS, the court yesterday also rejected claims by Credit Suisse Asset Management on its Class X notes in four Titan CMBS structures. Although the outcome was … Continue Reading

Class X claim fails in High Court

By Chris Webber on April 22, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

In an important decision of the Financial List of the High Court, Mr Justice Snowden has rejected claims by the Windermere VII CMBS “Class X” noteholder that it had been underpaid interest on its notes on interest payment dates in 2015. The judgment in Hayfin Opal Luxco 3 SARL v Windermere VII CMBS plc has … Continue Reading

Due or Payable? Court of Appeal Clarifies ISDA Master Early Termination Provisions

By Chris Webber on March 29, 2016 Posted in Contracts and Agreements, Dispute Resolution

The Court of Appeal has given renewed clarity on how to interpret the early termination provisions of section 6 of the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement. It made clear that inadequate and/or late provision of details of how an early termination amount was calculated will not entitle the Defaulting Party to avoid liability to pay the … Continue Reading

More on Class X claims – Lexis Nexis Q&A; Windermere VII litigation; Titan 2006-3 settlement plan vote on 4 April

By Chris Webber on March 21, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

LexisNexis Q&A My Q&A with Lucy Karsten of LexisNexis can be viewed here. Looking ahead to the Class X claims. The Windermere VII Class X claims In addition to the Titan Class X claims I wrote about in my earlier blog, similar issues were before the High Court on the Windermere VII CMBS case last … Continue Reading

Market awaits English court rulings on CMBS claims

By Chris Webber on March 2, 2016 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

April is set to be a busy month in the English courts for the CMBS community, as five cases come to trial in the High Court in London. Four of those cases are the so-called “Class X” claims, which have been consolidated together and are due to be heard between 7 and 15 April. All … Continue Reading

The Canary Wharf “Spens” case: why Welsh caravan parks are a danger to the financial markets

By Chris Webber on February 26, 2016 Posted in Dispute Resolution

The Oxwich Leisure Park on Wales’s Gower Peninsular might seem a world away from the concerns of Noteholders of a Canary Wharf securitisation following the sale of a £795 million skyscraper. But a decision in the Commercial Court last week (28 January 2016) showed how in the one-size-fits-all world of English contract law they can … Continue Reading

Specialist Court for Financial Markets Disputes Now Open

By Chris Webber on October 1, 2015 Posted in Dispute Resolution

The Financial List arrives Coinciding with the new court term, we now have a dedicated court established exclusively to hear specialist financial markets disputes. We wrote about the proposals for this Financial List back in June and July. Now that it has opened, what can we expect? New procedures and forms The nuts and bolts … Continue Reading

Specialist financial markets disputes centre to become a reality

By Chris Webber on July 21, 2015 Posted in Dispute Resolution

In June I wrote about proposals for the High Court in London to set up a specialist “Financial List” for complex finance cases. Now the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, has confirmed in a recent Mansion House speech that the initiative will go ahead. A finance disputes hub In announcing the Financial List, Lord Thomas … Continue Reading

Will Greek crisis lead to a fresh wave of FX derivatives disputes?

By Chris Webber on July 15, 2015 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution

Greece’s travails have led to much recent speculation about the impact on its banks, creditors and bond markets in the coming weeks and months. But the uncertainty that has surrounded the stricken country for some time may already be storing up trouble for UK-based banks in areas beyond their limited sovereign debt holdings. One such … Continue Reading