Deutsche Bank AG London Branch v Central Bank of Venezuela (Re Arbitration Act 1996 and an LCIA Arbitration) 2023 EWHC 1942 Comm - 28 July 2023
Country
Year
2023
Summary
This application has been heard in public but involves some materials that are confidential. For practical reasons, and to reconcile the public interest in open justice with the parties' interests in the confidential materials remaining private, in this judgment I shall be deliberately sparing in setting out the terms of the underlying documents. I am confident that this will not make my judgment incomprehensible to any member of the public who does not have access to the documents.
This is a long-running matter which arises out of transactions involving gold bullion swaps between the Claimant ("DB") and the Defendant ("BCV") from 2015, and out of the sanctions imposed on BCV by the Government of the United States on 17 April 2019.
The effect of the termination of the swap transactions was that substantial sums were payable by DB to BCV, but there were practical difficulties about how, where and to whom this payment should be made. The swap transactions were subject to arbitration under the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration ("LCIA") and thus fell under the Arbitration Act 1996. DB applied to this Court in May 2019 for the appointment of receivers, and an Order to this effect was made by Robin Knowles J on 13 May 2019 ("the Receivership Order"). Since then, the proceeds of BCV's contractual rights to the sums payable have been held by the receivers, under the terms of that Order.
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