Articles by author
Are claims worth over £3bn out of time under the FCA’s proposed motor finance redress scheme?
In its proposed rules for a consumer redress scheme, the Financial Conduct Authority has assumed that few claims will be time-barred on the basis that s 32(1)(b) Limitation Act 1980 (deliberate concealment) will be engaged. In this article, Matthew Parker KC considers the further question of when under that provision the consumer could with reasonable diligence have discovered the relevant facts and the factual issues to which it gives rise.
10 JAN 2026Force majeure in loan agreements: illegality under the standard form LMA clause
In this article, Matthew Parker KC considers some aspects of the LMA standard form illegality provision, including what does “unlawful” mean? and the application of the provision irrespective of the relative importance of the obligation.
6 FEB 2025Payments by mistake: when will the discharge of an existing debt be a defence to a claim for repayment?
On 11 August 2020, Citibank made a payment of US$900m to the lenders under a syndicated loan agreement, in what the US court later described as “one of the biggest blunders in banking history”. When Citibank sued for the return of the money, the US court held that it was not entitled to repayment because the payments discharged an existing debt and the recipients had no notice of the mistake. That decision, on 16 February 2021, has understandably caused consternation among bankers. One report described the decision as “eye-watering” and one that “will strike terror into earnest hearts in the global trust and agency community”. London, of course, is another global financial hub and the industry might be equally interested to know how this dispute might have been determined as a matter of English law. This article addresses that question.
1 JUL 2021Does the restoration of Crown preference mean that guarantors can get off the hook?
When the economic landscape changes, people often look to wriggle out of their financial commitments. Just such a change occurred in 2020, when HMRC’s status as a preferential creditor of insolvent companies was restored.
30 APR 2024Claiming subrogation where a debt owed by a third party is discharged by a payment made by mistake
In this article Matthew Parker KC considers the remedy of subrogation where money is provided by mistake. The context is Citibank’s mistaken US$500m payment to lenders which has now, on appeal, been held not to have discharged Revlon’s debt. This follows Matthew’s earlier article in the July/August 2021 edition, ‘Payments by mistake: when will the discharge of an existing debt be a defence to a claim for repayment’ (2021) 7 JIBFL 457.
1 DEC 2022
