Shine Grace Investment Ltd v. Citibank, N a

HCCL 28/2008

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

COMMERCIAL ACTION NO 28 OF 2008

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D E C I S I O N

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1.I am not satisfied that defendants have established there are reasonable prospects of success in their intended appeal against my exercise of discretion and case management powers in ordering the defendants’ discovery of documents which I considered to be relevant. Relevance is still determined by the wide Peruvian Guano test. In my view the documents sought to be disclosed are relevant to the issues of whether the plaintiff understood the relevant risks and was able to make an informed decision about the subject contracts, which is the defence asserted. The order flow documents are also relevant in that they may, to say the least, lead to a train of inquiry as to whether there was collection of orders and aggressive marketing of the relevant contracts to the plaintiff (which is denied by defendants), and whether the defendants had induced the plaintiff to enter into the contracts.

2.The application for leave to appeal is accordingly dismissed, with costs.

3.There is no justification or grounds to order any stay of execution.

Mr Jin Pao, instructed by Reed Smith Richards Butler, for the plaintiff

Ms Donna Wacker, of Clifford Chance, for the defendants

Please refer to HCMP3177/2014 for the relevant appeal(s) to the Court of Appeal.