Recent years have seen an increased importance placed on TopCo liability claims - claims where a parent company, a company at the top of the supply chain, or an investor can be liable for the actions of a subsidiary, supplier or investee company.
On Wednesday 10 April 2019, the Supreme Court handed down its much anticipated judgment in Vedanta Resources PLC and another (Defendants/Appellants) v Lungowe and others (Claimants/Respondents) [2019] UKSC 20. In handing down its decision in this jurisdictional case, the Supreme Court confirmed that:
- a duty of care can exist between a parent company and those affected by the operations of its subsidiaries
- the existence of that duty is likely to be a question of fact in each case
- the existence of a duty may be suitable for determination at a summary hearing (such as a jurisdiction challenge), but this will depend on the circumstances of the case
On Tuesday 25 June we will host a panel discussion that will look at recent developments relating to TopCo liability claims. The discussion will consider TopCo liability in the context of tortious claims, where it is said that a TopCo has assumed a duty of care to a Claimant who is affected by the actions or inaction of another company it is said to control. We will cover the following topics:
- Is there a current trend towards increasing liability of TopCos?
- Legally
- Societal/ Impression/ public opinion
- Does this discourage companies from being transparent and doing the right thing?
- Are companies being forced into exercising increasing control from the centre, and is this a sustainable or desirable business model?
- Will cautious actors (looking to avoid attracting TopCo liability) end up being excluded from certain sectors geographies?
The panel has been designed to take into account a number of different perspectives, and hopefully spark some interesting debate. They include representatives from business, industry association and investor perspectives as well as an academic perspective.
[Speakers to be confirmed]
Schedule
Registration - 6:00pm
Panel start - 6:30pm
Panel finish - 8:00pm
Drinks and light refreshments will be served after the discussion.
There are no available dates.