Claim No. TCD 003/2020
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
(1) NEST INVESTMENTS HOLDING LEBANON S.A.L.
(2) JORDANIAN EXPATRIATES INVESTMENT HOLDING COMPANY
(3) QATAR GENERAL INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE COMPANY P.J.S.C.
(4) GHAZI KAMEL ABDUL RAHMAN ABU NAHL
(5) JAMAL KAMEL ABDUL RAHMAN ABU NAHL
(6) TRUST COMPASS INSURANCE S.A.L.
(7) TRUST INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY (CYPRUS) LIMITED
(8) HIS EXCELLENCY SHEIKH NASSER BIN ALI BIN SAUD AL THANI
(9) FADI GHAZI ABU NAHL
(10) HAMAD GHAZI ABU NAHL
(11) KAMEL GHAZI ABU NAHL
Claimants
and
(1) DELOITTE & TOUCHE (M.E.)
(2) JOSEPH EL FADL
Defendants
CONSENT ORDER
UPON the Claimants’ request pursuant to RDC 28.5 for the provision of copies of certain documents referred to in the Defence and identified in Schedule 1 to this Consent Order (the “Reports”)
AND UPON the Defendants agreeing to provide the Reports to the Claimants only on the basis of the restrictions set out in this Order (the “Restrictions”) and without prejudice to the Defendants’ ability to argue that no further documents should be provided, or that documents should be provided subject to further and/or different restrictions in light of Lebanese banking secrecy and professional secrecy laws and regulations or any other arguments that the Defendants may wish to make regarding such Lebanese laws and rules as might result in penal and/or civil liability
AND UPON the Claimants agreeing to the Restrictions on the basis that such agreement is without prejudice to the Claimants’ ability to make further requests for production of documents, whether pursuant to RDC 28.5 or otherwise and including requests for production of the Reports without the Restrictions (or one or more of them), and further that it is without prejudice to any argument the Claimants may make as to the applicability and effect of Lebanese banking secrecy and professional secrecy laws, regulations and rules
AND UPON the agreement of the Claimants and the Defendants
BY CONSENT IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. The Defendants shall provide the Reports to the Claimants, by providing the documents to Onoma FZE for provision to the Claimants, subject to the following restrictions:
(A) the Reports will be redacted to remove any reference to LCB client names, assets, account numbers or any matters or details capable of identifying LCB clients;
(B) the restrictions requiring produced documents to be used only for the purpose of the proceedings under RDC 28.64 shall continue to apply to the Claimants in respect of the Reports even if any of them are read to or by the Court, or referred to, at a hearing which has been held in public;
(C) the Claimants shall not provide the Reports to anyone other than the professional advisers set out in Schedule 2 to this Order (the “Authorised Professional Advisers”) and named experts acting for them in these proceedings, and then only subject to the undertakings set out at paragraph 2 below;
(D) third parties other than the Claimants and those identified in paragraph 1(c) above shall not be permitted to obtain, have knowledge of, be informed of or have access to copies of the Reports nor shall the contents of any such Reports be divulged to third parties; and
(E) all judgments and/or other public Court documents and/or any other documents which can be viewed by the public shall be redacted in order to omit references to the contents of the Reports.
2. In respect of any documents disclosed under the terms of this Order, the Claimants and their Authorised Professional Advisers undertake as follows:
(A) to store any documents securely;
(B) to preserve confidentiality in the documents;
(C) to take all precautions that a reasonable professional person would take to prevent unauthorised use and/or leakage of the content of the documents;
(D) to provide advance notice of any disclosure to a proposed expert or professional adviser in these proceedings, together with the name of the expert and/or professional adviser (if not already set out in Schedule 2 to this Order) and at all times taking into account the undertakings noted in (g) herein below. For the avoidance of doubt, in the event of disagreement over disclosure to any professional adviser and/or expert, there be liberty to apply to the Court for a determination;
(E) to refrain from making any complaint, filing or other similar referral or to cause or to insinuate, whether directly or indirectly, anyone to cause and file legal proceedings (whether civil, criminal, administrative, regulatory or otherwise) against the Defendants or any other individual person or entity before any private, public, administrative, military, judicial or other competent authority or tribunal in Lebanon, or in any other jurisdiction, as a result of the simple act of disclosure of these documents;
(F) upon completion of these proceedings (including any Appeal Proceedings), and at the direction of the Defendants’ legal representatives, to either (1) return all copies of the documents to the Defendants’ legal representatives or (2) destroy all copies of the documents; and
(G) to obtain undertakings in the form set out at paragraphs 2 (a) to (c), (e) and (f) above from any named experts and professional advisers prior to the disclosure of the Reports.
3. No order as to costs.
Issued by:
Nour Hineidi
Deputy Registrar
Date of issue: 6 May 2020
At: 9am
SCHEDULE 1 – the Reports
Number | Report | Date |
---|---|---|
1. | DTL AML / CTF report in respect of LCB for the year to 31 December 2006 | 6 February 2007 |
2. | DTL AML / CTF report in respect of LCB for the year to 31 December 2007 | 28 February 2008 |
3. | DTL report on LCB in accordance with Decree 1983 | 9 May 2011 |
4. | DTL report regarding related-party transactions concluded by LCB in the year to 31 December 2006 | 19 January 2008 |
5. | DTL’s report regarding related-party transactions concluded by LCB in the year to 31 December 2007 | 7 June 2008 |
6. | DTL’s report regarding related-party transactions concluded by LCB in the year to 31 December 2008 | 5 May 2009 |
7. | DTL’s report regarding related-party transactions concluded by LCB in the year to 31 December 2009 | 21 April 2010 |
SCHEDULE 2 – Claimants’ Professional Advisers
- Carlo Fedrigoli
- Jonathan Fisher QC
- Anita Clifford
- Faisal Osman
- Caley Wright
- Robert Lawrie
- Marwan Sakr