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E THE APPLICATION BY A CONTRACTING PARTY TO RESTRAIN CLAIMS AGAINST NON-CONTRACTING PARTIES AS A MATTER OF CONTRACT
E THE APPLICATION BY A CONTRACTING PARTY TO RESTRAIN CLAIMS AGAINST NON-CONTRACTING PARTIES AS A MATTER OF CONTRACT
At this point we sail into much choppier waters: when, and if so, in what circumstances, will it be a breach of an arbitration agreement for one party to bring claims against a non-party? I will refer to such an obligation as a “Third Party Claim Obligation”. That is an issue on which the Court of Appeal has recently made certain observations, with a difference in the (obiter) views expressed by Singh LJ and Males LJ, in Renaissance Securities v Chlodwig [2025] EWCA Civ 369.
The legal context
Before reviewing the various authorities which have considered the Third Party Claim Obligation issue, it is helpful first to provide some legal context.
- Heading
- A INTRODUCTION
- The parties
- The evidence
- The UMAA
- The Client Agreement
- The ISDA Master Agreement
- The Terms
- The Correspondent Bank Account
- C THE BACKGROUND
- Proceedings in the Russian courts
- D THE “WHOLLY CONTRACTUAL” ANTI-SUIT CLAIMS
- The UMAA and the Client Agreement
- The 2017 Terms
- Which of the JPM Entities are entitled to enforce the 2017 Terms Arbitration Agreement?
- What is the effect of the contractual hierarchy provisions on the status of the 2017 Terms Arbitration Agreement in relation to the various claims brought by VTB?
- The ISDA Master Agreement
- E THE APPLICATION BY A CONTRACTING PARTY TO RESTRAIN CLAIMS AGAINST NON-CONTRACTING PARTIES AS A MATTER OF CONTRACT
- Contractual promises not to sue third parties
- Cases where a third party seeks to enforce a contractual right which is subject to an arbitration agreement
- The special status of arbitration agreements under English law
- The authorities
- The construction argument
- An implied term
- F THE APPLICATION TO RESTRAIN CLAIMS ON THE “VEXATIOUS AND OPPRESSIVE” BASIS
- The UMAA and Client Agreement Claims
- The ISDA Claim
- G SHOULD THE COURT REFUSE TO MAKE THE INJUNCTION IN THE EXERCISE OF ITS DISCRETION?
- H THE CLAIM FOR AN ANTI-ENFORCEMENT INJUNCTION
- I VTB’S CHALLENGE TO JURISDICTION
- Forum non conveniens
- Alternative service
- Conclusions