WW Property Investments Ltd v National Westminster Bank Plc

His Honour Judge Roger Kaye QC sitting as a Judge of the High Court ____________________

Professor Julian Roberts (instructed by DFG Solicitors) for the Claimant Andrew Mitchell QC and Adam Sher (instructed by Dentons UKMEA LLP) for the Defendant Hearing dates: 11-12 January 2016, 1 March 2016 ____________________

• First, an application by the defendant dated 1 September 2015 to strike out the claim or for summary judgment in its favour ("the Strike Out Application");

• Between 2004 and 2010 the claimant borrowed money from the defendant. Over the same period, it entered into four interest rate hedging contracts or Collars (Collar 1, Collar 2 and Collar 3) plus, in 2010, a Swap agreement following the close-out of each of the three Collar agreements;

• Despite the attempts of Professor Roberts to argue to the contrary (even after the draft judgment was handed down), the contracts were plainly all intended to hedge the claimant's exposure to interest obligations arising from the loans made by the defendant to the claimant; in simple, terms, by fixing the loan interest at a fixed rate whatever base rate fluctuations took place over the period of the agreement (save, in the case of the Collars, where the rates dropped below a certain level);