The ECU Group plc v HSBC Bank plc

Queen's Bench Division (Commercial Court), His Honour Judge Waksman QC (Sitting as a Judge of the High Court), [2017] EWHC 3011 (Comm), 26 October; 24 November 2017

Banking and finance - Civil procedure - Disclosure - Pre-action disclosure - Limitation - Deliberate concealment.

ECU was a currency debt management company. It placed "stop-loss" orders to limit currency exchange losses for clients with HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd ("HSBC Private") which were in turn placed by HSBC Private with HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC Bank") in London and HSBC Bank USA ("HSBC USA"). HSBC Private was obliged to achieve best execution on the orders and, along with its agents, to "safeguard the best interests of" ECU. On 5, 6 and 31 January 2006, ECU placed substantial stop-loss orders ("the Trades"). Each was triggered very shortly after being placed. ECU considered this was likely to have occurred as a result of HSBC traders "front-running" its orders by manipulating the market in advance to push rates to the level necessary to trigger the stop-loss orders and thereby generate profits for HSBC at the expense of ECU and its clients.