On 27 November 2024, Chief Justice Wayne Martin in the DIFC Court of First Instance handed down judgment on an application for strike out/immediate judgment on claims brought by two entities within the Abraaj Group (which, prior to its collapse, was the largest private equity firm in the Middle East) against their former auditors, KPMG LG and KPMG LLP (two entities in the KPMG Group).

More specifically, the Defendants sought to strike out claims for damages and indemnities in respect of $242.1 million fines that had been imposed upon the Claimants by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. This was on the basis that such losses: (i) were quasi-criminal fines and irrecoverable as a matter of public policy under the doctrine of illegality (“ex turpi causa non oritur actio”); and/or (ii) did not fall within the scope of the Defendants’ duty, as the Claimants’ statutory auditors, to protect the Claimants against such losses.

Chief Justice Wayne Martin dismissed the applications entirely, agreeing with the Claimants that the matter was inappropriate for early disposal for multiple reasons including: (i) the issues raised on the application involved numerous mixed questions of law and fact; (ii) the issues raised brought into question complex and developing areas of law in the DIFC (and England & Wales) that were better determined at trial; and (iii) there would be no substantial benefit to dismissal as a matter of case management, where the outcome of the application would have little or no impact upon the preparation of the case for trial.

The Claimants’ claims which seek, in aggregate, to recover losses of at least $600 million will now proceed to be heard in full at a 10-week trial commencing in October 2026. As the Chief Justice observed, if it goes ahead this will be the longest trial ever conducted in the DIFC Courts.

Daniel Edmonds and Victoria Green act for the Claimants (led by Ben Hubble KC of 4 New Square) and are instructed by Simmons & Simmons LLP (partner Kirsten Kitt, senior associate Abby Thompson, associates Stephen Rankin and Adam Wordley, and trainee Daanial Chaudhry). The Order with Reasons of Chief Justice Wayne Martin can be found here.