Bull & Ors v Gain Capital Holdings Inc & Ors
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE WALKER
Areas of Law
- Administrative Law
- Banking and Finance Law
- Civil Procedure
- Commercial Law
- Contract Law
- Corporate Law
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Several investors who lost money with Cameron Farley Ltd sued Gain defendants, claiming unauthorized forex activities and unlawful promotions under FSMA. Gain's applications for summary judgment and striking out the claims were refused due to potential trial success. Case involved issues of joint enterprise, agency, and complex fraud allegations.
Judgment
Mr Justice Walker:
A. Introduction
A1. The applications and my conclusion
A2. The Gain defendants
A3. The claims against the Gain defendants
A4. Entitlement where the general prohibition is breached
A5. Entitlement where deposits breach the general prohibition
A6. Entitlement resulting from unlawful financial promotion
A7. Heads of claim: joint enterprise and agency
A8. The Gain defendants’ stance for present purposes
A9: Evidence, the hearing, and written submissions
B. Factual background to the applications
B1. Assumptions for the purposes of the applications
B2. Hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme
B3. Mr Devey’s experience
B4. Overview of Cameron Farley’s accounts with Gain
B5. The first Introducing Broker Agreement
B6. White label agreement
B7. The Cameron Farley website in 2004
B8. Dec 2004: Corporate Customer agreement, Control account
B9. Early 2005: Cameron Farley website and cold calls
B10. The first Service Agreement
B11. First FSA enquiry, June 2005 to October 2006
B12. Investment activity, June to December 2005
B13. January to April 2006
B14. Cameron Farley accounts with Gain: May and June 2006
B15. Other matters arising in May and June 2006
B16. The remainder of 2006
B17. The NFA complaint against Gain
B18. January to April 2007
B19. May 2007: the FSA second enquiry
B20. May 2007: other events
B21. June 2007: the FSA assessment and the “revamp” letters
B22. July to December 2007
B23. January to June 2008
B24. July and August 2008
B25. September 2008: interdict and FSA third enquiry
B26. October 2008: losses in excess of $17 million
C. Legal principles: summary judgment/striking out
C1. Striking out
C2. Summary judgment
C3. The riposte
C4. Failure to object to jurisdiction
D. The Joint Enterprise Question
E. The authority arguability questions
F. Conclusion
A. Introduction
A1. The applications and my conclusion
Actions have been brought by a number of those who lost money on investments with Cameron Farley Limited (“Cameron Farley”). I am concerned with applications by certain of the defendants in two such actions. The first is 2013 Folio 503, in which the claimants are Mr Stephen James Bull (“Stephen Bull”), his father Mr Carl James Bull (“Carl Bull”), and CSJ Forex Limited (“CSJ Forex”), a company whose sole shareholder is Stephen Bull’s mother. The second is 2013 Folio 505, in which the claimants are Mr Paul Duncan Bowker (“Mr Bowker”), Mr Leonard Devey (“Mr Devey”), Mr Alan Strange (“Mr Stra