Third-party information orders: a new gateway to action?

• Recent cases have highlighted the applicable tests for obtaining disclosure orders against overseas banks, and the usefulness of the new gateway.
• More cases will likely be brought once the new gateway is introduced.

Fraud and asset tracing are now commonly cross-jurisdictional, with money being moved swiftly between bank accounts and across countries in attempts to evade detection and enforcement. Recent cases have shed light upon the applicable tests for obtaining disclosure orders (Bankers Trust orders) against foreign banks and also demonstrated the usefulness of the new gateway relating to third-party information orders introduced in October 2022 at para 3.1(25) of CPR PD 6B, facilitating the same.

Kyriakou v Christie Manson & Woods Ltd and others [2017] EWHC 487 (QB) sets out the criteria for making a Bankers Trust order.They are that: there are good grounds for concluding that the property