The illegality defence (which aims to prevent a party benefiting from its illegal conduct via legal claims) has been the subject of considerable judicial analysis in commonwealth jurisdictions in recent years.

HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS

Pension Disputes Bulletin

Welcome to the latest edition of our regular pension disputes bulletin. In these bulletins we report on key cases, Ombudsman decisions and regulatory activity and we highlight emerging risks for pension schemes, providers, sponsors, administrators and other service providers.

In a hurry? In a hurry? Read the `Risk warning', `Takeaways' and `Comment' boxes to find out the key risks, points to note and to read our observations on each case/ development.

MAY 2022

OVERVIEW

Legislation

Insolvency practitioners will welcome the confirmation that they cannot be expected to be aware of same degree of information as if company was still trading

This month sees a statement by the Charity Commission on the Ukraine crisis and how this impacts charities, and a factsheet released by the UK government on the impact the war has had on energy.

There are also some very interesting articles regarding support for domestic abuse victims to how to deal with Social Housing complaints.

Finally there is a press article on TLT’s involvement in the innovative second modular deal for Town and Country Housing and Legal and General Modular Homes.

Case 1

Convoy Collateral Ltd v Broad Idea International Ltd and Cho Kwai Chee [2021] UKPC 24

Lord Leggatt, Lord Briggs, Lord Sales, Lord Hamblen (in the majority) and Sir Geoffrey Vos MR Lord Reed, Lord Hodge (in the minority), 4 October 2021

Welcome to the sixth edition of our quarterly disputes newsletter, which covers key developments in the dispute resolution world over the last three months or so.

A number of key decisions from the English courts in 2021 illustrate the litigation trends that are likely to have implications for the financial services industry in 2022 and beyond (see below “Cases to watch in 2022”).

Market misconduct and mis-selling

In the first of a series of claims issued by ECU Group Plc in relation to alleged wrongdoing in the foreign exchange markets by a number of banks, the High Court held that:

Administrators of Arena Television are reportedly investigating an alleged fraud involving millions of pandemic loans, where government-backed loans were offered to businesses to help them deal with the pandemic, and are suing two of the directors for breach of fiduciary duty. More companies may be in a similar position as, according to the National Audit Office, it is likely that the level of fraud in the bounce back loan scheme ranges from £3.5bn to £4.9bn. Who can claim these ill-gotten gains?

Directors’ duties

In John Doyle Construction v Erith Contractors, the Court of Appeal has further considered the interrelation of insolvency and adjudication, providing guidance on the circumstances in which an adjudication award might be enforceable by a company in liquidation.

The key takeaways

Jurisdiction