Accountancy firm Grant Thornton, which is being sued for £46m by Barclays Bank over audit reports provided to the collapsed Von Essen Hotels group, has applied to have the claim struck out.
It is seeking a summary decision from Cooke J dismissing Barclays’ claim, in which the bank alleges that GT owed it a duty of care in tort in relation to the contents of the audits of Von Essen’s accounts from 2006 to 2009.
Barclays also claims that GT was negligent by failing to uncover the alleged fraud of two employees of Von Essen, Simon Tate and Stephanie Gibbs, against whom the bank has also issued proceedings. It is seeking to recover losses of £46m, plus interest that would make the final sum far higher.
GT argues that the claim should be struck out as a result of an industry standard disclaimer of responsibility in its reports, commonly known as a “Bannerman clause”, which is intended to prevent a duty of care arising in favour of third parties.
Simon Salzedo QC, representing GT, also argued that the underlying claim is an unusual one, because Barclays asserts that GT was negligent despite Tate admitting in his defence to the action that he encouraged a culture of obfuscation and diversion amongst hotel accounts staff in their dealings with GT.
Among the issues the judge is being asked to decide is the question of whether the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 applies to the disclaimer.
Cooke J has reserved judgment on the strike out application.
Barclays and Lloyds Bank together lent £250m to Von Essen, which was forced into administration in April 2011 when it failed to make interest payments.
