Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2022 #188Prickly Bay was engaged in the development of houses and apartments at L’Ance Aux Epines, St George, Grenada. Its principal director was Richard Lee, husband of Rosa Lee. Two adjacent properties were owned by a Mr Steele. Following a dispute between Prickly Bay and Mr Steele a consent order was entered into providing that Prickly Bay would purchase the adjacent properties for US$5m. It was a term of the consent order that Prickly Bay would provide a bank guarantee for US$2.25m. The respondent, BAICO, gave the guarantee.
Mr and Mrs Lee, and Prickly Bay, entered into a loan agreemen...
Daniel Scott analyses a civil fraud case that may serve as a precursor for similar cases in the private client sphere on the misappropriation of cryptocurrencies The concession made in this case is to favour the trust analysis such that it is now relatively uncontroversial to view cryptocurrencies as property capable of being held on …
Continue reading "Cryptocurrencies and trusts: Watch and learn"
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2021 #184The defendant company was formed as a cryptocurrency trading exchange platform based in New Zealand in 2014. It enabled users to register as account holders, make deposits and carry out trades of various types of digital assets for which the company charged fees. The initial deposit would be made into a ‘hot wallet’ connected to the internet for which there was a public key. When not required to meet withdrawal requests, the deposit would be transferred to a ‘cold wallet’ which was not connected to the internet and for which there was a private key, similar to a password, known only to t...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Autumn 2020 #180H and C were two directors and trustees of a charitable company limited by guarantee. They, together with L, were the members of the company. In July 2015 H and C agreed that, subject to the approval of the Charity Commission or the court, C would resign as a director and member of the company and the company would make a grant of $360m to a charity founded by C.
Companies Act 2006, s217 provides that:
‘A company may not make a payment for loss of office to a director of the company unless the payment has been approved by a resolution of the members of ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | Summer 2019 #175The claimant held accounts in Nigeria with IMB International Bank, whose rights and obligations had been inherited by the defendant through a series of mergers. IMB itself held ‘correspondent’ accounts with a London bank. The claimant often received funds to an Isle of Man nominee which held a bank account in London.
In a series of 10 transfers between 2000 and 2002, the claimant’s nominee gave instructions to its bank to transfer sums to one of IMB’s accounts variously identifying the ‘beneficiary’ as IMB but in eight cases ‘for further credit to’ the claimant. Sums totalling $3,...
A recent Privy Council case indicates how the court will determine remedies and damages for breach of fiduciary duty. Joseph de Lacey explains ‘The case shows the flexibility of the concept of constructive trusts, and how they can be and are used to protect those to whom fiduciary duties are owed.’ On 27 March 2017 …
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Mark Pawlowski considers the case for accepting backwards tracing as part of English law ‘A debt is an asset in the hands of the creditor and so can provide a basis for tracing in relation to the creditor’s assets.’ In Bishopsgate Investment Management Ltd (in liquidation) v Homan [1994], the Court of Appeal held that …
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Wills & Trusts Law Reports | October 2015 # 153The effective plaintiff was the municipality of Sao Paulo (the municipality). The Federal Republic of Brazil was nominally the plaintiff because its constitution required it to be a party to any action brought outside Brazil by a Brazilian public authority. The defendants were companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (the companies) which were, at the relevant time, under the practical control of Mr Paulo Maluf and/or his son Mr Flavio Maluf. From 1993 Mr Paulo Maluf had been mayor of the municipality.
The case concerned payments made to Mr Paulo Maluf, or others on his ...
Wills & Trusts Law Reports | November 2011 #114
BA Peters plc (the company) carried on a business consisting of activities connected with boats, including their sale or purchase both on its own account and as broker for clients. It operated two bank accounts – client and current. When the company went into administration on 14 August 2007 its current account was substantially overdrawn but there was a balance on its client account amounting to £850,544.44. KPMG LLP, whose employees were the joint administrators, concluded on an analysis of the client account that the payments in originated either from sums received on be...
