Mining giant succeeds in appeal against amendment refusal in $290m claim

Mining group Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) has succeeded in its appeal to amend its claim – allowing the company to claim more than $290m against the Serious Fraud Office and international firm Dechert.

In a hearing before Lord Justice Phillips, Lord Justice Nugee and Lord Justice Jeremy Baker earlier this month, Kazakh mining group ENRC appealed against the decision to refuse permission to amend its claim for the ‘phase 2’ trial of the long-running litigation, in which the ENRC is suing the SFO and Dechert over the loss it says it suffered as a result of the SFO’s criminal investigation into the ENRC and its subsidiaries.

The amendments which were refused sought to include losses based on the value of the ENRC’s shareholding in some of its subsidiaries.

The Court of Appeal has granted permission for the ENRC to amend its claim. It means that the mining company can ‘reinstate’ $128m to its claim, which totals around $290m.

A judgment with reasons will follow the order allowing ENRC’s appeal and its amendments. The judgment is expected in the autumn with permission to appeal extended until 28 days after the judgment hand down.

Dmitry Vozianov, head of legal strategy for ENRC on its claims against Dechert and the SFO, said: ‘We are pleased with the Court of Appeal’s ruling, which allowed us to reinstate a significant portion of ENRC’s claims. The company’s total claim is now over $290 million.

‘This is a fair result given the real impact of the serious wrongdoing by Dechert and the SFO on a large international mining company, which was significantly restricted in its business activities for more than a decade.’

An SFO spokesperson said: ‘We note the decision. ENRC still needs to prove its losses.’

At an earlier trial the court found the SFO’s wrongdoing was an ‘effective cause of the loss’ claimed by ENRC for unnecessary work, costs and wasted time management. The judgment, dealing with causation and loss, found Dechert and its former head of white-collar crime Neil Gerrard, jointly and severally, were 75% liable for the relevant damage in unnecessary costs and wasted time management while the SFO was apportioned 25% liability. For unnecessary work damages, Dechert and Gerrard were found to be 100% liable. These splits cover losses incurred before March 2013. 

The phase 2 trial will deal with loss and is listed for April 2026.