30.10.2026
VTB Bank achieved a significant victory in a judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal today.
The dispute arises from the bank’s claim in the administration of VTB Capital. The bank has always maintained that its rights in VTB Capital’s administration ought simply to be determined under insolvency law.
The administrators of VTB Capital and OFSI sought to circumvent insolvency law with reference to sanctions legislation, in an effort to extinguish the bank’s rights. The Court of Appeal’s judgment makes clear that this is impermissible, and the attack on the bank’s rights has therefore failed. If the administrators and OFSI had simply allowed the bank’s rights to be determined under insolvency law at the outset, these proceedings would never have been necessary.
The case is also of wider importance as it confirms that UK sanctions law cannot be used to extinguish the substantive rights of sanctioned parties.
PCB Byrne instructed
Tim Owen KC of
Matrix Chambers,
William Day of
3VB and
Tim James-Matthews of
Matrix Chambers.
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