A & Ors v E

Facts

The Defendant is the parent company of a substantial private group owned by Family F. The Claimants, members of that family resident in Country G, held shares in the Group's Country G subsidiaries. The Defendant's case was that they did so as nominees for it, and that the First Claimant had withdrawn large sums from those entities for personal use. On 21 June 2021 each Claimant signed a Deed confirming the nominee arrangement. Clause 4 provided for the referral of disputes arising in relation to the Deed to LCIA arbitration. The Defendant commenced LCIA arbitration in June 2023. The Claimants denied any legal nominee arrangement, said the Deed was subject to unfulfilled conditions, and challenged the tribunal's jurisdiction on four grounds. A three-member tribunal rejected the jurisdictional challenge and, in a Partial Final Award dated 31 October 2025, found for the Defendant on all issues and granted wide relief, including declarations, injunctions and orders for accounts. The Claimants then applied to the High Court under section 67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on the jurisdictional grounds, and under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 alleging serious irregularity in the Award's definition of the Country G Entities. The hearing was in private and the judgment is anonymised.