Far Reaching Requests For Disclosure - A Warning

The High Court of England & Wales recently considered the scope of disclosure required to be undertaken by a party in the case of The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v Barclays Bank Plc.

The proceedings commenced in 2017 and concern a claim against, among others, a number of defendant banks relating to the alleged collusive suppression of the USD LIBOR rate. In this interlocutory hearing, the claimant sought further disclosure from the defendant banks including transactional data relating to alleged LIBOR manipulation as well as further information from the defendant banks to assist the claimant in making additional more specific and focused disclosure requests.

In finding for the defendants, Miles J made the following helpful remarks with regard to the parties' obligations relating to disclosure: