CL-2020-000859 - [2025] EWHC 1915 (Comm)

Crane Bank Ltd (“CBL”) was a Ugandan bank. The claimants in this action are CBL and some of its significant shareholders. On 20 October 2016, the Bank of Uganda—which regulated CBL—placed CBL under “statutory management”, and announced that it was doing so because CBL was “a significantly undercapitalised institution … poses a systemic risk to the stability of the financial system, and … the continuation of [CBL]’s activities in its current form is detrimental to the interests of its depositors”. On 24 January 2017 it placed CBL into receivership, and the following day the Bank of Uganda, as receiver, agreed to transfer most of CBL’s assets and liabilities to the first defendant (“DFCU”—for present purposes I do not need to distinguish between it and the second defendant, which is its parent company).

The claimants allege that this was the result of corruption. CBL was, they say (quoting from paragraph 8 of the particulars of claim) “one of Uganda’s leading banks”, with a “strong balance sheet”, attested by financial statements audited by KPMG, a “strong financial position”, and “highly profitable”. Their case is that Bank of Uganda manufactured pretend concerns about its financial stability, as part of a corrupt scheme to take over and sell CBL or its assets, which they allege began in 2016 and continued to early 2017, by which time DFCU (and the other defendants) were participants in it. The sale to DFCU was, they maintain, at a “gross undervalue”, and followed a “sham bidding process” orchestrated by the Bank of Uganda and its officials.

This is heavy litigation. The particulars of claim run to 60 pages. DFCU’s defence to nearly 90. On this CMC, the bundles of primary material before me have significantly exceeded 10,000 pages. It is listed for a 12 week trial to begin in Michaelmas term next year.

The issue before me is, however, narrow issue about pleading amendments. It really comes down to an objection to one long additional paragraph that DFCU wishes to add to its defence. The issue before me is whether permission should be given to make that amendment, which (as the parties ultimately agree) is a matter of discretion in application of the overriding objective to deal with the case “justly and at proportionate cost”.

I have decided that permission to make the amendments to which objection is made should partly be granted, and partly refused. I refuse the permission in so far as the amendments do or may purport to incorporate, as factual allegations that DFCU will prove at trial, conclusions set out in two reports prepared by a third party. I grant permission in so far as they seek to rely on the existence or terms of those reports, but without alleging that the reports are correct.