- The UK government has settled a $1.6bn USD (£1.25bn) lawsuit taken by Iran’s Bank Mellat for wrongful sanctions imposed on the bank in 2009.
- Zaiwalla & Co. LLP represented Iran’s Bank Mellat and had sued the UK Government for damages amounting to $1.6 billion USD, one of the biggest sanctions case in the UK history.
- A five-week trial in the long-running case was due to begin this month led by Partners Ms Pavani Reddy, Mr. Kartik Mittal and Ms Azadeh Meskarian, head of the firm’s Iran department, alongside Founder & Senior Partner, Mr. Sarosh Zaiwalla.
28th June 2019, London: Zaiwalla & Co. LLP, the sanctions specialist law firm in the City of London has led what was being touted as one of the biggest sanctions case against the UK government. Representing Iran’s largest private bank in the landmark Bank Mellat v HM treasury, the firm has successfully settled damages amounting to $1.6 billion USD from the UK Government.
The case goes back to 2009 when Bank Mellat was sanctioned by Her Majesty’s Treasury, under the Financial Restrictions (Iran) Order, pursuant to the powers granted to it by the 2008 Counter-Terrorism Act. The 2009 Order had prohibited UK financial institutions from having any business relationship with Bank Mellat.
Bank Mellat challenged the order in the Court of Appeal and lost, after which it replaced its legal advisory team from a large City firm Stephenson Harwood to appoint Zaiwalla & Co. LLP, prior to taking the matter to the Supreme Court. This turned tables for Bank Mellat as Zaiwalla & Co. LLP ensured that the EU Council was ordered to cover both its own and Bank Mellat’s costs for the proceedings.
A 9-judge bench of the Supreme court subsequently decided that Bank Mellat had been irrationally singled out and unlawfully listed by UK government under Iran nuclear proliferation sanctions. This elimination of its business in London was a disproportionate response to the Treasury’s stated goals. The Court also ordered HM Treasury to pay Bank Mellat’s costs and it remitted the case to the High Court for the assessment of damages caused to Bank Mellat as result of the 2009 order. Bank Mellat thereafter sued the treasury for damages as these sanctions led to losses of $1.6bn USD (£1.25bn).
The parties have reached an amicable settlement where all the outstanding matters in the claim including losses have been settled and Bank Mellat’s claims have been concluded on terms confidential to the parties.
A five-week trial in the long-running case was due to be led by Managing Partner Pavani Reddy, Partner Kartik Mittal and Azadeh Meskarian, the head of the firm’s Iran department, alongside Founder & Senior Partner, Mr. Sarosh Zaiwalla. Mr. Zaiwalla also happens to be the first lawyer of Indian origin who has successfully established an International Law firm in the City of London. Coming from Mumbai to London he established the law firm Zaiwalla & Co. 35 years ago. Both Pavani and Kartik are also Indian Origin lawyers and possess dual qualifications from India and England and Wales.
Commenting on the settlement, Zaiwalla & Co. LLP said, “Bank Mellat’s earlier success in the Supreme Court, through our firm, against the UK Government which has now resulted in a satisfactory settlement of the High Court proceedings to assess damages, will reinforce further the confidence of foreign parties in the independence of the English Judiciary. Today, in many countries throughout the world, the English Court is considered as the International Commercial Court, where parties can obtain fair and impartial justice.”
