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Quincecare Duty – Supreme Court Appeal

The Court of Appeal decision in Stanford International Bank Ltd (in liquidation) v HSBC plc [2021] EWCA Civ 535  comes before the Supreme Court this week as SIB appeal the decision to strike out the loss claim it brought under the “Quincecare Duty” principle.

In April 2021 the Court of Appeal upheld HSBC’s appeal against the decision at summary judgment that refused to strike out SIB’s loss claim. It held that, applying the Quincecare Duty, HSBC did not owe a duty to SIB’s creditors – only to SIB itself (as it’s customer). SIB’s net asset position was unchanged by the payments that HSBC made out of the company’s accounts in the period in question.

Accordingly, the Court of Appeal held that HSBC’s appeal must be allowed, and the loss claim in respect of the approximately £116.1 million worth of payments made by HSBC from SIB’s Accounts must be struck out. It held that the claim cannot succeed as SIB did not sustain the specific loss that it claimed.

 

Scott Nodder