COMMODITIES CASE UPDATE JULY 2023 HFW COMMODITIES CASE UPDATE JULY 2023 We are delighted to present the July 2023 edition of the Commodities Case Update, with a summary of 12 key recent cases relevant to the commodities sector. With a market leading commodities team, we have over 100 lawyers who provide a full service internationally. The group is led by a team of over 25 partners, who are based in all our offices around the world, including in the major trading hubs of London, Paris, Geneva, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Dispute Resolution analysis: Following a liability trial, an unfair prejudice petition under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 has been dismissed. None of the alleged instances of unfair prejudice directed against the Respondents was made out.

Pickering v Hughes and ors [2022] EWHC 3359 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

Dispute Resolution analysis: When the owners and controllers of a company refused to identify the recipient of payments made out of the company during the course of arbitration proceedings, their defence to a claim under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 was struck out and judgment was entered against them.

Integral Petroleum SA v Pretrogat FZE and ors [2023] EWHC 44 (Comm)

What are the practical implications of this case?

Dispute Resolution analysis: A Court, cost-managing a claim under s423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 has strongly criticised the level of anticipated costs reflected in cost budgets and have made an order reflecting the view formed.

Lemos and ors v Church Bay Trust Company Limited [2023] EWHC 157 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

COMMERCIAL | JANUARY 2023 BANKRUPTCY IN THE UAE PART 2: DIRECTORS’ DUTIES 1. Introduction One of the most common ways of conducting business within the UAE is through an onshore limited liability company. Commercial companies incorporated onshore in the UAE have a separate legal personality.1 The company can enter into legally binding agreements in its own name and take on valid and binding obligations.

One of the most common ways of conducting business within the UAE is through an onshore limited liability company. Commercial companies incorporated onshore in the UAE have a separate legal personality.1 The company can enter into legally binding agreements in its own name and take on valid and binding obligations. Actions of the directors of a company, on behalf of such a company, generally bind the company.2 Generally, any liabilities resulting from those actions are for the account of the company, rather than for the account of the individual directors in their personal capacity.

HFW DISPUTES DIGEST 2022 Welcome to our first annual digest, in which we collate our 2022 global HFW LITIGATION and International Arbitration publications in one place. This edition includes updates from the whole Disputes arena across England, AsiaPac, and the Middle East. HFW is one of the world’s largest and most active disputes practices, litigation is in our DNA. We have more than 350 specialist disputes lawyers in offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and AsiaPac.

Dispute Resolution analysis: A large award of damages and/or equitable compensation has been made against the directors and connected companies of a company which was used to perpetrate a large scale labour supply fraud against HMRC.

Umbrella Care Ltd v Nisa and ors [2022] EWHC 3139 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

The much-anticipated UK Supreme Court decision in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA & Ors was finally released, giving clarity to directors and insolvency practitioners about the existence, scope and engagement of the so-called “creditor duty”. A relatively recent development in English law, the creditor duty is in fact really a dormant creature of the existing directors’ fiduciary duties that awakens in an insolvency, or near insolvency, context.

Introduction

The court ruled that:

The Insolvency and Companies Court has recognised Chapter 11 Proceedings in the US in respect of the manufacturer of controversial surgical mesh products which have generated a significant number of claims worldwide. The British Claimants have had their claims stayed as a result of this recognition.

Re Astora Women’s Health LLC [2022] EWHC 2412 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?