LONDON.
The English High Court has held a further case management conference in proceedings brought by Crane Bank Limited (CBL) and others against Dfcu and others in England.
The case management conference is an interim hearing at which the court makes decisions on certain procedural steps required for claims in the English Courts.
At the hearing, the Court agreed with Dfcu that the claimants need to do more to comply with their disclosure obligations and granted certain requests by Dfcu for additional searches and information.
Court ordered Kampala based mugul Sudhir Ruparelia, the founder of Crane Bank to deliver up his mobile phone for testing by specialists, to confirm whether potentially relevant documents may be available.
The court also ordered Sudhir’s daughter Sheena Ruparelia to disclose relevant documents from her personal email account.
Additionally, the Court also refused the claimants’ request to rule that reports prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) ,an international reputable audit firm regarding the management of CBL were inadmissible. PwC is an international reputable audit.
The Court did not make any findings on the allegations raised by CBL and others against Dfcu, and the parties continue to prepare for trial, which is due to take place in October 2026.
Dfcu continues to allege that CBL was mismanaged by its former owners and that the Bank of Uganda was entitled to rely on the matters in PwC’s report in resolving CBL.
Dfcu that remains strong and adequately capitalised, has consistently maintained that the claim is without merit and continues to vigorously defend the claim.
It should be noted that in December 2020, CBL filed a claim in the English courts challenging the transaction relating to the acquisition of some of the assets and assumption of some of the liabilities of CBL to Dfcu.
The transaction was pursuant to the Bank of Uganda (BOU)’s statutory powers under the Financial Institutions Act.