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Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

19/06/2012

VTB Capital PLC v Nutritek International Corp

This is an archived article, and some links may not work. Contact us if you have any questions.

In VTB  v Nutritek the Court of Appeal refused to pierce the corporate veil of the borrower under an English law bank loan agreement in order to say that the directing minds of the borrower had incurred contractual liability under the agreement.  The Court reached that conclusion because there had been no objective agreement to the effect that the directing minds were parties to the agreement and because the bank had adequate remedies in tort.  In reaching that conclusion, the Court overruled two first instance decisions, one of which was Gramsci v Stepanovs.  The consequence was that the bank was unable to found jurisdiction against the directing minds in contract.  As to the claims in tort, the Court concluded that, although the most significant elements of the torts alleged occurred in England and thus, all other things being equal, the applicable law would have been English law by virtue of section 11(2)(c) of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995, nevertheless the centre of gravity of the torts alleged was in Russia and therefore the applicable law was Russian law by virtue of section 12.  The Court also commented on the relevance of allegations of fraud in the context of a Worldwide Freezing Order.  Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court was refused.


Iain Milligan QC acted for the Fourth Respondent (instructed by SJ Berwin LLP)

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