PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd v Clyde & Co LLP

PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd v Clyde & Co LLP

The court declined to grant POS's application for payment of funds into court or to its solicitors, holding that Clyde, as trustee, is not required to expose itself to a real risk of criminal prosecution in the US, and contractual protections in the escrow agreement remain operative post-arbitral award, outweighing POS's financial predicament.

Parties
Claimant: PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Limited; Defendant: Clyde & Co LLP
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
26 February 2021
Procedural Posture
Civil / Judgment
Outcome
Application dismissed
Legal Topics
Trustee Liability, Escrow Agreements, Foreign Forfeiture Orders, Supervisory Jurisdiction, Contractual Protections, Risk of Foreign Prosecution

Case Brief

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Parties

PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Limited

Claimant

Clyde & Co LLP

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil / Judgment

  1. 1 Whether Clyde & Co LLP can be compelled to pay escrow funds to POS or into court given risk of US prosecution
  2. 2 Effect and survivability of escrow agreement post-arbitral award
  3. 3 Court's supervisory jurisdiction over trusts in context of foreign forfeiture proceedings

Ratio Decidendi

The court declined to grant POS's application for payment of funds into court or to its solicitors, holding that Clyde, as trustee, is not required to expose itself to a real risk of criminal prosecution in the US, and contractual protections in the escrow agreement remain operative post-arbitral award, outweighing POS's financial predicament.

Court Disposition

Application dismissed