Thursday’s Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch v Essar Steel India Limited judgment confirmed that service of proceedings by BONY on Law Debenture in relation to insolvent steel producer Essar’s defaulted 15 year 2003 bond issue was good service on Essar even though Law Deb has ceased acting in 2006. Clause 18.3 of the notes trust deed said Essar:
“irrevocably appoints Law Debenture Corporate Services Limited… to receive, for it and on its behalf, service of process in any Proceedings in England. Such service shall be deemed completed on delivery to such process agent (whether or not it is forwarded to and received by the [Defendant])…”
Marcus Smith J had no difficulty holding that since BONY served process in accordance with clause 18.3, Essar could not argue, even though it had withdrawn its authority from Law Deb 12 years earlier. It seems Popplewell J came to the same conclusion on a similar clause in the unreported decision Cargill International Trading Pte Ltd v. Uttam Galva Steels Ltd [2018] EWHC 974.
and then 