Summary An application for the committal of the directors of a company for its failure to comply with an undertaking was struck out as an abuse because on the documentary evidence it had no real prospect of success; the undertaking on which it was based was incapable of performance. Facts...

Summary The proper construction of a prime brokerage agreement was that the counterparty to the agreement retained a beneficial interest in the securities held by the broker as custodian and in cash derived from those securities. As a result, the counterparty was a secured creditor for both cash and securities...

Summary There was no basis for the continuation of a worldwide freezing order against a property agent where there was insufficient evidence of dishonest conduct on his part or of any likelihood that he would attempt to stymie a judgment against him. Facts The applicant companies (D) applied to continue...

Summary A claim had been settled in pre-trial negotiations where a "subject to contract" umbrella, under which the terms of the settlement had earlier been approved, was lifted by necessary implication so as to make the negotiations binding. Facts The court was required to determine whether an action brought by...

Summary An application was granted to use part of the transcript of a pre-trial cross-examination of a defendant, which was subject to an undertaking as to its use, in an action for breach of contract, breach of trust and conspiracy. The use of the material was, however, restricted if the...

Summary An application to commit a newspaper publisher for breach of an undertaking to the court not to infringe a freelance photographer's copyright was refused as, although the publisher's actions had infringed copyright, the issue between the parties was not one which had featured in the actions leading to the...

Summary A judge had erred in finding, contrary to both parties' submissions, that a surveyor had not been retained at the date an application should have been made by his client to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in accordance with the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Facts The appellant ...

Summary Certain zero coupon loan notes, which were issued on terms designed to satisfy the definition of a "relevant discounted security" within the provisions of the Finance Act 1996 Sch.13, did not meet those statutory requirements, purposively construed, since some of the terms had no practical reality and could therefore be...

Summary In the circumstances it was appropriate to impose a suspended committal order in respect of a contempt consisting of a large scale failure to produce documents in response to a court order. Facts The applicant bank (B) applied for the committal of the respondent (M) for failure to comply...