Facts of the Case: This case involved two interest rate swaps between Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) and two different entities from the Firth Rixson Group. The case was heard in 2021 and judgement was handed down in October 2022. The court held for LBIE: FR has the opportunity to appeal. One of the swaps […]

Update from the FCA – the velvet glove goes back on Following on from the FCA’s warning of 25th January that firms needed to ramp up their preparations for the incoming Consumer Duty, on the 3rd of February the regulator has provided a package of advice tailored to specific sectors in the form of a […]

Headlines The 15th December joint policy statement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) follows the consultation paper published in July, which received two responses. This policy statement has adjusted aspects of margin requirements for OTC derivatives contracts that are not transacted through central counterparty clearing, as well as making a […]

Summary The Court of Appeal held that it is not necessary to have a fiduciary duty in secret commission cases. In two cases that went together to the Court of Appeal, three key issues surrounding judiciary relationships and, secret and half-secret commission ruled in favour of two borrowers with the same broker. Introduction The background […]

Summary A 10-year interest rate swap between a bank and a local council, in which the bank paid an upfront payment of £2.5 million that was to be repaid in instalments, was deemed ultra vires and void. The Council was ordered to repay the remaining balance to the Bank, with compound interest as there was […]

Summary A recent unanimous decision by the Court of Appeal overturned previous rulings on two preliminary issues regarding the type of guarantee and the obligation of the buyer to pay the last instalment of a shipbuilding contract that they had not previously paid. The case proved to show that not all guarantees outside of a […]

Summary The governing body of a school, whose contract with a construction company was previously found to be ultra vires and void, unsuccessfully appealed to claim restitution for overpayments on a school building. The case and its importance were demarcated by the Court of Appeal defining the counter-restitution principle explicitly for the first time, alongside […]

MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1406 Case handed down in the Court of Appeal on 27th October 2022. Route through the courts Facts MUR are a Dutch shipping company. RTI are a chartering company that form part of a Russian-owned group. The contract of affreightment (COA), signed in 2016, concerned monthly […]

Summary In an important case for capacity in derivatives law, an interest rate swap agreement between a district council and bank was found not to be a wagering contract under English law.   Introduction From June 1987, Welwyn Hatfield District Council (Welwyn Hatfield) entered into a ten-year interest rate swap contract, on the basis that […]