Rotenberg v Sucafina SA – Court of Appeal (Sir John Thomas, President QBD, Lloyd and Aikens LJJ) – 16 May 2012

Arbitration – Award – Umpire making award under rules of Coffee Trade Federation – Losing party appealing to Board of Appeal – Board making interim awards in favour of appellant – Whether awards final and binding – Parties failing to take up subsequent “Final Award” – Whether failure to take up final award restored original award of umpire

Sucafina was a Swiss company specialising in coffee trading. It alleged that between June 1998 and March 2001 it entered into a series of coffee futures contracts with Mr Rotenberg. Mr Rotenberg was a Belgian citizen resident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was also managing director and a shareholder of a Congolese company (“ILFEC”) and an associate company (“CAFECA”) incorporated in the Central African Republic.