- Represented a bank in an action to strike out the core of a £50 million mis-selling claim brought against the bank in a series of interest rate swaps purchased to hedge substantial lending before the considerable drop in rates.
- Represented the claimant, a sovereign wealth fund, in a claim alleging conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and dishonest assistance/knowing receipt against the son of a former president of Angola, an Angolan-Swiss businessman, and a series of corporate entities within an investment group.
- Represented a large bank in a case concerning the bank’s right to redeem certain enhanced capital notes issued by two special purpose vehicles. The note trustee brought proceedings against the two issuers, seeking the court’s construction of the terms and condition of the notes to determine whether a capital disqualification event had occurred, triggering the bank’s right to redeem the notes at par value. The chancellor found against the bank at first instance, but the bank established its right to redeem before the UK Court of Appeal and the UK Supreme Court.
- Represented the note issuer in a claim that an international corporate real estate firm overvalued 35 of 36 properties making up the commercial mortgage-backed security for the issuer’s securitization by approximately £200 million. The case concerned not only claims of negligent overvaluation in over 30 large UK commercial properties but also a series of interesting legal arguments regarding the duty of care owed to issuers of CMBS notes by valuers, the assignment of rights by originating lenders to issuers, and the practice of securitized lending. The claim was settled after a mediation shortly before the start of what would have been a 12-week trial.
- Represented a bank as trustee of certain notes issued as part of a CDO structure. The bank brought Part 8 proceedings on the instructions of the senior noteholder seeking the court’s confirmation that an event of default had occurred on the notes, as asserted by the senior noteholder, on the basis that the issuer entered into an interest rate swap that was not compliant with the transaction documentation. The issuer did not accept that it was in default, and the senior noteholder sought summary judgment.
- Represented a division of a large U.S.-based bank as cash manager in a CMBS transaction in which the holder of Class X Notes brought proceedings seeking to establish that there had been a shortfall in interest payments on the notes that had caused the issuer to default on the notes, triggering substantially greater interest payments on the Class X Notes. The case was one of a series of Class X claims brought by funds that had acquired these instruments seeking to capitalize on drafting inconsistencies and the potential for defaults to affect in their favor the priority of payments between noteholders.
- Defended a bank against a £30 million claim brought by a number of hedge funds regarding their participation in a syndicated loan to a commercial property owner and manager, which was subordinated to a securitized loan. The bank defended the claim following a five-week trial.
- Defended a bank against a claim that a currency swap to enable an investment firm to hedge its sterling/euro exchange risk exposure had been mis-sold by the bank.
- Acting for a bank as trustee of notes issued by a vehicle linked to Eurotunnel during the course of the restructuring of Eurotunnel. The proceedings were issued and expedited to the UK Court of Appeal so that they could be determined during the French insolvency proceedings relating to Eurotunnel.
- Represented a bank as security agent in an application for summary judgment during the long-running Elektrim litigation.
- Represented the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in a UK Court of Appeal case establishing the link between the operation of limitation periods in cases concerning insolvency and the application of the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 1930.
Partner,
- Phone: +44.0.20.3823.2195
- Email: paul.morris@alston.com
With over two decades of experience representing financial institutions in high-value banking disputes, Paul has the ability to handle complex disputes in a pragmatic fashion. Paul frequently represents clients in disputes arising from structured finance products, derivatives, and more traditional finance transactions, as well as civil fraud and asset tracing.