Key Facts
- •Dorset Limited (claimant), a Marshall Islands investment company, claimed 293,800 shares in Trax Limited (valued at ~$24 million) held by Panagiotis Triantafyllis (defendant).
- •The defendant held the shares on trust for the claimant based on a 2014 agreement.
- •The defendant argued he held the shares at the request of Eugenie Coumantaros, sister of a potential beneficiary of Dorset Limited.
- •A 2016 handwritten agreement identified the shares as held for Ms. Coumantaros.
- •The claimant sought summary judgment for transfer of the shares, offering to cover the defendant's legal costs and Swiss taxes.
- •The main dispute centered on the sufficiency of the claimant's offered indemnity for the defendant's costs and potential Swiss gift tax liability.
Legal Principles
Summary Judgment
CPR 24.2
Trustee's right to indemnity
Trustee Act 2000, section 31; Lewin on Trusts at 19-044(3); Wester v Borland [2007] EWHC 2484 (Ch); Concord Trust v The Law Debenture Trust Corpn [2005] UKHL 27
Costs
CPR 44.2
Outcomes
Claimant ordered to pay defendant's costs of the application.
The claimant failed to adequately address the defendant's concerns regarding sufficient indemnity for future legal costs and potential Swiss gift tax liability. While the Swiss authorities ultimately confirmed no gift tax would be levied, the court found the risk was real enough to justify the defendant's position.
Summary judgment for transfer of shares granted.
The defendant had no real prospect of successfully defending the claim to the shares themselves, following clarification on the gift tax issue from Swiss authorities.