Sub 20 Ltd v Royalton Investment Limited & Ors
[2024] EWHC 907 (Comm)
Credit Suisse AG v Burgundy Sea Ltd & Ors
5 April 2023
[2023] EWHC 809 (Comm)
High Court
A company lent money to another company, guaranteed by a prince. The borrowing company didn't pay back the money or follow the rules of the loan. The lender sued, and the court ruled in the lender's favor because the other side didn't have a good defense.
Key Facts
- •Credit Suisse AG (CSAG) sought summary judgment against Burgundy Sea Ltd and Prince Fahad bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud for outstanding sums under a loan agreement and personal guarantee.
- •The loan agreement involved financing a yacht, with the Prince guaranteeing Burgundy's obligations.
- •Burgundy failed to make interest payments and provide evidence of the Prince's financial portfolio, breaching the loan agreement.
- •Burgundy also failed to pay CSAG's legal fees.
- •CSAG issued a Notice of Acceleration, declaring the loan immediately due and payable.
- •The defendants did not appear at the hearing and their defenses consisted largely of bare denials.
- •The court considered evidence from Patrick Murphy's witness statements supporting CSAG's claims.
Legal Principles
Summary judgment can be granted if a claimant has no real prospect of success, or a defendant has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim, and there is no other compelling reason for a trial.
CPR 24.2
The court must consider whether the claimant has a 'realistic' prospect of success, not merely an arguable one; it must not conduct a 'mini-trial' but should consider all reasonably expected evidence.
Easyair Ltd v Opal Telecom Ltd [2009] EWHC 339 (Ch) at [15]
Outcomes
Summary judgment granted in favor of CSAG.
The defendants had no real prospect of successfully defending the claim, as their defenses were mostly bare denials without substantive arguments. The court found that CSAG had established at least one Event of Default under the loan agreement, triggering the right to accelerate the loan.
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