The High Court has ordered Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Limited to provide documents and answers in a dispute over loans to former director Thomas Browne, while refusing or narrowing some of his requests for discovery.
Mr Justice Kelly delivered the ruling on 14 April 2011 in the Commercial List. It concerns Browne’s application for discovery, not the final trial of his defence and counterclaim. The court had previously refused the bank’s application for summary judgment after finding that Browne had raised an arguable case that the transactions were vitiated by fraud. The judgment on discovery does not decide those allegations or the bank’s claim for repayment.
The bank seeks repayment of sums under facility agreements, including a February 2008 facility and a January 2009 facility. Browne accepts that the loans were made and repayment demanded, but pleads that the agreements should be rescinded because of alleged non-disclosure and misrepresentation. The bank denies wrongdoing and disputes key allegations. Those issues remain for trial.
The judge directed discovery of credit committee applications, materials considered and decisions relating to several facilities. For documents about the bank’s share price, discovery covers board packs and minutes, plus minutes of senior management meetings at which its deterioration was considered, from the beginning of 2007 to 7 January 2009. A broader request for internal facility reviews was refused unless a review led to a change in facility terms; documents giving rise to such a change must be discovered.
For several categories concerning loans to the Quinn family, bank directors and officials, and ten individuals, the judge said interrogatories could obtain information such as loan amounts, purposes, terms and enforcement steps. Discovery was ordered for specified documents about the bank board’s knowledge of shareholdings, subject to a three-year period ending on 28 November 2007; for documents concerning the defendant’s alleged involvement in sanctioning Quinn-related loans; and for documents about the consequences of loans to directors and the ten individuals. The latter discovery was found not disproportionate, with relevant documents already electronically archived.
The court also directed discovery of material about Browne’s involvement in the bank’s management between 1 September and 28 November 2007, including a sample showing his daily involvement. It refused discovery of documents about the purpose of a September 2008 deposit transaction, directing instead that the bank answer interrogatories about its intentions. The ruling concluded with liberty to apply.