Attendance of Company Director for Cross Examination: Dreyfus Commodities v Concorde

On 8 May 2015, Phillips J gave judgment in Louis Dreyfus Commodities Mea Trading DMCC v Concorde Pour L’Industrie et L’Exploitation SPRL. The Claimant had commenced claims seeking the repayment of sums due and interest arising out of loan agreements it had entered with the first to third corporate defendants (D1-D3), of which D4 was a director. The Claimant obtained a without notice worldwide freezing order and an interim anti-suit injunction over certain proceedings in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the basis of exclusive jurisdiction clauses in the loan agreements. The interim anti-suit injunction was continued and extended to include preventing the claimant from commencing proceedings in the DRC in relation to the enforceability of its mortgage security. Pursuant to orders for disclosure, D1-D3 disclosed details of management accounts as of the end of 2013; the Claimant did not accept that that disclosure was either proper or complete, and following correspondence and further disclosure, remained dissatisfied with the defendants’ responses and sought attendance of D4 for cross-examination.

Romie Tager QC appeared for the defendants.