Finance disputes

The legal status of cryptocurrency in English law is cryptic no more!

A recent English High Court judgment has provided much needed legal certainty in respect of the status of cryptocurrency as property in English law. Background In September 2018 (although only reported in November 2019), the High Court granted a freezing order over Bitcoin and Ethereum held by a trading platform (Elena Vorotyntseva v Money-4 Service […]

Hands off, its mine! Beneficial interests vs creditors’ rights

Litigation partner Alexander Wildschütz discusses one of his recent cases highlighting the impact of invisible third party rights on creditors’ interests.

Singularis Holdings Ltd (in liquidation): a cautionary tale for banking institutions?

Banks are generally not liable to compensate customers for fraudulent payments if the customer authorised the payment. However, in Barclays Bank Plc v Quincecare Ltd [1992] 2 All E.R. 363 it was held that banks owe a duty to prevent fraudulent transactions if the bank has reasonable grounds for believing that the customer authorisation is […]

Victory for RBS in its long-running defence of Property Alliance Group’s high-stakes LIBOR claim

An appeal brought by property investment and development business Property Alliance Group Limited (PAG) in its long-running case against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal. PAG was refused permission to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which brings to an end the first civil proceedings involving […]

The duty of a salesman

On 5 December 2017, the High Court handed down its latest swaps mis-selling judgment in Marz Limited v Bank of Scotland Plc. The decision confirmed a bank can exclude obligations by agreement and rejected the imposition of an “intermediate duty” on banks as a general principle. In 2008, the Bank of Scotland (the Bank) provided […]