Bank of East Asia, Elliott Management legal dispute returns to court

The latest stage in the legal dispute between Bank of East Asia and activist hedge fund Elliott Management took place on Thursday as representatives of the three parties, Elliott, BEA’s directors, and the bank itself appeared before Mr Justice Jonathan Harris in a case management conference.

The proceedings relate to attempts by Elliott to obtain an order from the court stating that BEA’s placement of new shares to the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Spanish Caixa Bank were “passed for an improper purpose.”

If this is successful, the court would order BEA to release the two shareholders from agreements restricting them from reducing or increasing their stakes in the bank without the bank’s approval.

SMBC holds an 18.87 per cent stake in the bank, Caixa a 17.18 per cent stake, and Elliott owns a 6.84 per cent stake, according to Reuters data.

At Thursday’s case management conference at the High Court, the court heard discussion of procedures around whether Elliott could publish certain court documents from Bank of East Asia and its directors online, and whether parts of Elliot’s petition should be “struck out”.

These matters will come to court before Mr Justice Harris in either May or July of this year, the court heard.