[2018] NSWSC 233 Hammerschlag J

Judgment Summary Supreme Court New South Wales

Swiss Re and QBE v Simpson, Montgomery and Bell [2018] NSWSC 233 Hammerschlag J The Supreme Court has dismissed a claim for damages brought by two insurance companies, Swiss Re and QBE, against Messrs David Michael Simpson, Donald James Montgomery and Andrew Bell, three former officers of Forge Group Ltd (Forge), a publicly listed company which collapsed in early 2014. Forge had a significant subcontract with Samsung to do work in connection with the Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia. Under the contract, Forge needed to provide Samsung with performance bonds (bonds). Not long before Forge collapsed, Swiss Re and QBE issued bonds for Forge in favour of Samsung for $98.8 million. When Forge failed, Samsung called on the bonds and the insurers paid. Swiss Re and QBE alleged that they were induced to issue the bonds, and suffered loss, by the misleading or deceptive conduct of Simpson, Montgomery and Bell. The Court found that it had not been established that Simpson, Montgomery and Bell had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, but that if they had, it was not a cause of the insurers’ loss.

This summary has been prepared for general information only. It is not intended to be a substitute for the judgment of the Court or to be used in any later consideration of the Court’s judgment.