Disputes news, updates and analysis | Page 4 of 14

Serco hits the High Court at the start of June in the first s90A securities group action to go to trial. Claimants allege that they were shareholders of Serco and acquired, held, or disposed of shares in Serco between 2006 and 2013, asserting that they suffered loss due to untrue or misleading statements published by Serco. With this being the first case under s90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) to reach judgment, there are a range of fundamental issues to be addressed, touching on the interpretation of key provisions of the statute. The case also involves novel issues of reliance, loss and quantum, and the identification of persons discharging managerial responsibility.

The case continues the development of securities litigation, which started in 2013 in the high-profile case brought against The Royal Bank of Scotland. It will also provide clarity on the effects of the Autonomy litigation, which considered the issue of reliance. Continue reading “Serco”

Described by one London disputes head as ‘the biggest class action ever’, Municipio de Mariana & Ors v BHP Group sees a claimant class of more than 700,000 bringing claims for damages in excess of £36bn arising from the 2015 collapse of Brazil’s Fundão Dam.

On 5 November 2015 the dam suffered a catastrophic failure. Nineteen people were killed and over 40 million cubic metres of iron ore waste poured into the Doce River in what became the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history. Continue reading “Municipio de Mariana & Ors v BHP Group”

Complex claims are being brought against Mastercard and Visa in an ongoing decade-long saga involving over 1,800 corporate claimants across the hospitality, arts, financial services, and leisure sectors. With three different strands of cases – Merricks v Mastercard, collective cards, and umbrella proceedings – lawyers involved are finding themselves in court almost weekly. The first of these, the Merricks claim, is the second collective proceedings to have ever been brought in the CAT, starting seven years ago. Judgment on a causation hearing came through in February, examining the veracity of the central facts, which ultimately determined that on the factual basis, the European interchange fees did not drive the UK fees. Cited as a success by Freshfields, a spokesperson for the firm commented, ‘this is a very significant judgment. It finds that over 90% of Mr Merricks’ case fails factually’. If the judgment is left to stand, the value of the claim will be reduced by £9bn from a total of £10bn. Merricks’ lawyers have indicated their intention to push for a trial on a counterfactual scenario, which if successful, would bring this amount back into play. Continue reading “Mastercard proceedings”

In line with the trend towards mega-trials, the Commercial Court in October is due to hear the highly publicised Russian aircraft insurance claims, with aircraft lessors bringing multiple proceedings across a range of jurisdictions.

The losses arise from the detention of hundreds of commercial aircraft in Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent implementation of international sanctions against it. The litigation encompasses complex multi-party insurance claims, involving expert evidence across Russian politics, civil aviation, insurance underwriting, and US sanctions. Continue reading “Russian aircraft claims”