Final Judgment in the “Tuna Bonds” litigation

One of the largest claims brought before the Commercial Court concluded on 29 July 2024, when Mr Justice Robin Knowles handed down judgment in the US$2Billion claim brought by The Republic of Mozambique against Credit Suisse International and Others, in respect of a number of sovereign guarantees, in a case that became known as the ‘Tuna Bonds’ litigation.

Knowles J’s ruling was the culmination of long-running proceedings involving the Republic of Mozambique, Credit Suisse, Privinvest, VTB Capital and a number of other parties.  Whilst a number of the claims were settled between various parties, including all of the Republic of Mozambique’s claims against Credit Suisse and the Credit Suisse Deal Team defendants, other claims, including those brought by Privinvest proceeded to a lengthy and substantial High Court trial.

Instructed by Rupert Butler, Steph Davies and Owen Vanstone-Hallam of the commercial litigation specialists, Leverets Group, Christopher Convey of 33 Chancery Lane was instructed to represent the third defendant, Surjan Singh, one of the three Credit Suisse Deal Team defendants. Christopher was led by Peter Knox KC and was part of a team with Charlotte Pope-Williams and Daniel Goldblatt, each of 3 Hare Court, all instructed by Leverets. Ian Smith, of 33 Chancery Lane, was instructed during the pre-trial stages by Leverets to represent the three Credit Suisse Deal Team defendants.

All claims against the Credit Suisse Deal Team defendants were settled during the course of the trial.

The case was one of the largest trials ever to be heard before the Courts of England and Wales and featured in The Lawyer’s Top 20 cases for 2023.