Assignments by way of security: lessons from Abraaj Investment Management Ltd (in liquidation) v Kes Power Ltd

The recent High Court judgment in the case of Abraaj Investment Management v Kes Power1 provides an interesting examination of assignment principles in the context of secured lending. In particular the judgment offers an insight into when estoppel might assist a lender faced with problematic security. The judgment also touches on a number of other areas of interest however including when assignments can be implied whether “no assignment” clauses are subject to a reasonableness qualification and consideration issues in acknowledgements of notice.

What was the background?

The key issue in this case was whether an assignment by way of security of a receivable was valid despite the assignment being made by the wrong group company. The receivable was owed to Abraaj Investment Management Limited (AIML) by Kes...