Ivanishvili v Credit Suisse: Amendment of Pleadings and Forum Non Conveniens in Trust Dispute

The Singapore Court of Appeal heard an appeal by Bidzina Ivanishvili, Ekaterine Khvedelidze, Tsotne Ivanishvili, Gvantsa Ivanishvili, and Bera Ivanishvili against Credit Suisse Trust Limited regarding a trust dispute. The appellants sought to amend their Statement of Claim to reflect the discontinuance of claims against Credit Suisse AG and focus solely on breaches of trust by Credit Suisse Trust Limited. The court considered whether the amendment was permissible and whether Singapore was the appropriate forum. The Court of Appeal allowed the amendment and the appeal, setting aside the stay of proceedings against the Trustee.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore Court of Appeal addresses amendment of pleadings and forum in a trust dispute involving Credit Suisse Trust. Appeal allowed.

1.7 Decision Date

2 July 2020

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Credit Suisse Trust Limited	Respondent, Defendant	Corporation	Appeal Allowed	Lost	Toby Landau of Essex Court Chambers Duxton(Singapore Group Practice) Stanley Lai of Allen & Gledhill LLP
Bidzina Ivanishvili	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC
Ekaterine Khvedelidze	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC
Tsotne Ivanishvili	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC
Gvantsa Ivanishvili	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC
Bera Ivanishvili	Appellant, Plaintiff	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Cavinder Bull of Drew & Napier LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Sundaresh Menon	Chief Justice	Yes
Judith Prakash	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes
Chao Hick Tin	Senior Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Toby Landau	Essex Court Chambers Duxton(Singapore Group Practice)
Stanley Lai	Allen & Gledhill LLP
Cavinder Bull	Drew & Napier LLC

4. Facts

Mr. Ivanishvili settled part of his wealth on the Mandalay Trust, a discretionary trust domiciled in Singapore.
Credit Suisse Trust Ltd is the trustee of the Mandalay Trust.
The assets of the Mandalay Trust were managed and invested by the Geneva branch of Credit Suisse AG.
The appellants discovered that the Mandalay Trust had suffered tremendous losses.
Mr. Lescaudron, the portfolio manager of the Mandalay Trust, admitted to misconduct and was convicted in Switzerland.
The appellants commenced Suit 790 in Singapore against the Bank and the Trustee.
The appellants withdrew their appeal against the stay in respect of their action against the Bank.

5. Formal Citations

Ivanishvili, Bidzina and others v Credit Suisse Trust Ltd, , [2020] SGCA 62
, Civil Appeal No 26 of 2019, Civil Appeal No 26 of 2019
, Summons No 71 of 2019, Summons No 71 of 2019
, Suit No 790 of 2017, Suit No 790 of 2017
, Registrar’s Appeals Nos 229 of 2018, Registrar’s Appeals Nos 229 of 2018
, Registrar’s Appeals Nos 232 of 2018, Registrar’s Appeals Nos 232 of 2018

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2004-01-01	Mr. Ivanishvili became a customer of the Bank in Switzerland.
2005-03-07	The Mandalay Trust was established by the Trustee pursuant to a declaration of trust.
2005-03-01	Mr Ivanishvili settled some US$1.1bn on the Mandalay Trust.
2006-08-01	Mr. Lescaudron took over as the relationship manager.
2013-07-05	The Trustee amended the Trust Deed by way of a Deed of Amendment and Restatement.
2013-12-01	Mr Ivanishvili also appointed Mr Bachiashvili as investment manager.
2015-09-01	The Bank made margin calls totalling US$45.89m on the accounts within the Mandalay Trust.
2015-12-01	The Bank made a criminal complaint against Mr Lescaudron in Switzerland.
2017-08-07	The appellants commenced a claim in New Zealand against the Bank and the current and former trustees of the Green Vals Trust.
2017-08-17	The appellants, Meadowsweet and Sandcay commenced a claim in Bermuda against CS Life.
2017-08-25	The appellants commenced HC/S 790/2017 in Singapore against the Bank and the Trustee.
2018-02-09	Mr Lescaudron was convicted on charges of embezzlement, misappropriation and forgery.
2019-06-21	The appellants discontinued the proceedings in Suit 790 against the Bank.
2019-10-22	Initial hearing of the appeal.
2020-02-27	Second hearing of the appeal.
2020-07-03	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Amendment of Pleadings
- Outcome: The Court of Appeal allowed the amendment of the Statement of Claim.
- Category: Procedural
Forum Non Conveniens
- Outcome: The Court of Appeal held that Singapore was the more appropriate forum and set aside the stay of proceedings.
- Category: Jurisdictional
- Related Cases:
  - [1987] AC 460
Interpretation of Trust Deed Clauses
- Outcome: The court determined the effect of clause 2(a) of the Trust Deed, regarding the forum for administration.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages
Declaratory Relief

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Trust
Negligence

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Trust Litigation

11. Industries

Finance

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Ivanishvili, Bidzina and others v Credit Suisse AG and another	High Court	Yes	[2019] SGHC 6	Singapore	Details the High Court's decision to stay Suit 790, which the Court of Appeal is now reviewing.
Spiliada Maritime Corporation v Cansulex Ltd	House of Lords	Yes	[1987] AC 460	England and Wales	Sets out the two-stage test for determining the appropriate forum in a forum non conveniens application.
Rickshaw Investments Ltd and another v Nicolai Baron von Uexkull	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2007] 1 SLR(R) 377	Singapore	Demonstrates the plaintiff's freedom to frame their cause of action to fall within the jurisdiction of their preferred forum.
Rex International Holding Ltd and another v Gulf Hibiscus Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2019] 2 SLR 682	Singapore	Affirms the claimant's right to choose its cause of action and sue the party it wishes to sue, subject to legal constraints.
Gulf Hibiscus Ltd v Rex International Holding Ltd and another	High Court	Yes	[2017] SGHC 210	Singapore	Dealt with a situation closely analogous to the present one, where the plaintiff sought to amend its pleadings on appeal.
Islington London Borough Council v Uckac and another	Court of Appeal of England and Wales	Yes	[2006] 1 WLR 1303	England and Wales	Supports the principle that an appellate court can allow amendments to pleadings if it allows the real issue to be determined.
Sharab v Al-Saud	Court of Appeal of England and Wales	Yes	[2009] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 160	England and Wales	Discusses the circumstances under which an undertaking can be given on appeal.
Rappo, Tania v Accent Delight International Ltd and another and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2017] 2 SLR 265	Singapore	Clarifies the principles regarding undertakings on appeal and the factors considered in forum non conveniens analysis.
Sunbreeze Group Investments Ltd and others v Sim Chye Hock Ron	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2018] 2 SLR 1242	Singapore	Illustrates circumstances where an amendment application should have been made before the High Court.
Crociani and others v Crociani and others (Princess Camilla de Bourbon des Deux Siciles intervening)	Privy Council	Yes	17 ITELR 624	Jersey	Interprets 'forum for administration' clauses in trust deeds, holding they don't necessarily confer jurisdiction on a court.
Re a Trust	Supreme Court	Yes	16 ITELR 195	Bermuda	Found a forum for administration clause to function as an exclusive jurisdiction clause.
Koonmen v Bender and others	Jersey Court of Appeal	Yes	6 ITELR 568	Jersey	Interpreted a forum for administration clause as stipulating a forum for dispute resolution, but this interpretation was later criticized.
Edoarda Crociani and others v Cristiana Crociani and others	Jersey Court of Appeal	Yes	[2014] JCA 089	Jersey	Disapproved of the reasoning in Koonmen and held that 'exclusive jurisdiction' referred to governing law, not jurisdiction.
Green and another v Jernigan and others	Supreme Court of British Columbia	Yes	6 ITELR 330	British Columbia	Held that a trust deed conferred exclusive jurisdiction on the courts of Nevis.
Helmsman Ltd and another v Bank of New York Trust Company (Cayman) Ltd	Grand Court of the Cayman Islands	Yes	13 ITELR 177	Cayman Islands	Considered the analysis in Matthews and suggested it was probably correct.
CIMB Bank Bhd v Dresdner Kleinwort Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2008] 4 SLR(R) 543	Singapore	Reiterates the burden on the applicant for a stay to show that there is another forum which is 'clearly or distinctly more appropriate'.
Lakshmi Anil Salgaocar v Jhaveri Darsan Jitendra	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2019] 2 SLR 372	Singapore	Highlights the importance of third-party witnesses not in the employ of any of the parties.
VTB Capital plc v Nutritek International Corpn and others	Supreme Court	Yes	[2013] 2 AC 337	United Kingdom	Affirms that a defendant is entitled to keep his powder dry and does not have a duty to specify his case.
MAN Diesel & Turbo SE and another v IM Skaugen SE and another	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] 1 SLR 327	Singapore	Confirms that the high likelihood of relevant witnesses who are non-compellable in Singapore would be a factor pointing away from Singapore.
John Reginald Stott Kirkham and others v Trane US Inc and others	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2009] 4 SLR(R) 428	Singapore	States that documentary evidence is easily transportable between jurisdictions.
Gomez and others v Gomez-Monche Vives and others	High Court	Yes	[2009] Ch 245	England and Wales	Recognizes that the governing law is particularly significant so far as trusts are concerned.
Virsagi Management (S) Pte Ltd v Welltech Construction Pte Ltd and another appeal	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2013] 4 SLR 1097	Singapore	States that the first port of call is the identity of the parties and the causes of action and issues concerned.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed)

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Trustees Act (Cap 337, 2005 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Mandalay Trust
Forum Non Conveniens
Trust Deed
Statement of Claim
Amendment of Pleadings
Forum for Administration
Spiliada Test
Breach of Trust
Trustee Duties
Investment Reports

15.2 Keywords

Trust
Credit Suisse
Singapore
Forum Non Conveniens
Breach of Trust
Amendment of Pleadings

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Trust Law	90
Trusts and Estates	90
Private International Law	80
Civil Litigation	70
Litigation	60
Asset Management	40
Contracts	20
Contract Law	20
International Arbitration	10
Corporate Litigation	10
Arbitration	10
Constitutional Law	5

16. Subjects

Trust Law
Civil Procedure
Conflict of Laws
Forum Non Conveniens