The collapsed Kaupthing Bank was today refused permission to appeal against a judge’s ruling earlier this month.
Mr Justice Burton ruled that property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz can continue their £1bn-plus damages claim against it.
He ruled that the Icelandic bank would have “no reasonable prospect of success” in an appeal on its application to have the claim put on hold for want of jurisdiction, or struck out as an abuse of process.
The judge said: “I do not have any doubt that none of the submissions put forward are sufficiently arguable for the case to go forward to the Court of Appeal.”
The bank will now have to ask the Court of Appeal directly if it wishes to challenge the judge’s ruling on 16 March that the proceedings were launched in the English courts in July 2010, before the bank was wound-up in Iceland in November, and that, as a result, the courts have jurisdiction to hear the case.
The judge gave directions for a case management conference to be heard on 17 June, at which a date for the trial may be set. He was not asked to make an order on costs in the wake of the judgment after the parties reached agreement.
The Tchenguizes allege that Kaupthing misrepresented its solvency position prior to its collapse, and claim that the bank broke a March 2008 agreement not to call in its security interests in Robert Tchenguiz’s Mitchells & Butlers and Sainsbury’s holdings for at least a year. Kaupthing disputes all of the allegations.
Jess.Harrold@estatesgazette.com
To access all EGi news stories and commercial property data sign up for a free trial today, or visit the subscription options page to find out more.
