Major Jurisdiction victory for Mongolian National Railway Company

On July 31, 2014, the High Court in London gave judgment in favour of JSC Ulaanbaatar Railways (“UBR”), the Mongolian national railway company, in its $55 million jurisdiction battle against Standard Bank PLC.

UBR, represented by Sidley Austin, argued that the English court had no jurisdiction over the company (one of the largest in Mongolia) and that London was not the proper forum for the case.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Walker found that Standard Bank had failed to make good the necessary jurisdictional gateway under the applicable Civil Procedure Rules and that the Courts of England and Wales were not the proper forum for the claim, with the circumstances of the case pointing strongly to Mongolia. In a key finding for practitioners dealing in the burgeoning Mongolian market, the Judge also held that it had not been established to the requisite standard that a foreign investor such as Standard Bank would be treated unjustly if there were a trial in Ulaanbaatar.

UBR was represented in London by Sidley Austin’s Matthew Shankland, along with associate Barney Connell.

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