Update – Other Litigation – Firth Rixson consequential matters – 6 January 2023

On 26 June 2020, the Administrators brought an application for directions under paragraph 63 of Schedule B1 in respect of two counterparties (FR Acquisitions Corporation (Europe) Ltd) and JFB Firth Rixson Inc., referred to collectively as “Firth Rixson”) to GBP and USD interest rate swaps governed by ISDA Master Agreements. Following a hearing in January 2021, the High Court (Mr Justice Hildyard) handed down its judgment on 11 October 2022, finding in favour of the Administrators on all points.

A further hearing to deal with various consequential matters, including permission to appeal and costs, took place on 8 December 2022. The Judge handed down his judgment on these consequential matters on 23 December 2022, awarding costs in favour of the Administrators (on an indemnity basis together with interest in respect of a substantial proportion of those costs), plus an additional lump sum payment, to take account of a Part 36 settlement offer that had been made by the Administrators at an early stage in the proceedings. The Judge also granted Firth Rixson permission to appeal his October judgment on the substantive issues.

A copy of the October judgment can be found here.

If any interested party requires more information, please contact LBIE's Communications and Counterparty Management Team at generalqueries@lbia-eu.com