Petrochemical Commercial Company International Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2019] NSWSC 849

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Petrochemical Commercial Company International Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2019] NSWSC 849 Hearing dates: 4 July 2019 Date of orders: 04 July 2019 Decision date: 11 July 2019 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Slattery J Decision: Orders made permitting the use of the requested information and documents in the Malaysian proceedings, but upon terms that the plaintiffs seek to maintain as confidential identifying information about persons against whom there is no evidence of wrongdoing in the Malaysian proceedings. Catchwords: DISCOVERY – equitable discovery – production of documents and information sought in proceedings in Australia to aid the prosecution of civil proceedings in Malaysia – the Malaysian proceedings seek the recovery of large sums of money alleged to have been misappropriated from the plaintiffs in a fraudulent conspiracy and then distributed from Malaysia to a number of other countries including Australia – the defendant bank in Australia agrees to orders for equitable discovery and will consent to the production of the documents and information sought – once the documents are produced by the defendant bank the plaintiff seeks release from its obligations under Harman v Secretary of State for the Home Department [1983] 1 AC 280 not to use the documents and information for purposes unrelated to these proceedings and specifically to enable their use in the Malaysian proceedings – not all the documents and information produced on equitable discovery relates to or identifies alleged conspirators in the fraud alleged in the Malaysian proceedings – on what terms should the Harman undertaking be released in the circumstances – what steps should be taken to protect the identity and confidential information of potentially innocent third parties. Legislation Cited: Supreme Court Act 1970, s 23 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, rr 1.4 and 25.12 Cases Cited: Bankers Trust Co v Shapira [1980] 1 WLR 1274 Breen v Williams (1996) 186 CLR 71 Computer Share Ltd v Perpetual Registrar Limited (2000) 1 VR 626 Harman v Secretary of State for the Home Department [1983] 1 AC 280 Norwich Pharmacal Co. & Others v Commissioners of Customs and Excise [1974] AC 133 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: First Plaintiff: Petrochemical Commercial Company International Ltd Second Plaintiff: PCCI Limited Third Plaintiff: Navak Asian Kish Trading Co (PJS)