After a landmark ruling last month in the motor finance test case, the Court of Appeal has hit Close Brothers with yet another blow after refusing its application to take its case to the Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeal handed down a decision in late October, siding with the consumer. It ruled that the lenders did not receive consent from customers about the amount of commission they charged.
The case involved three merged claims against the merchant banking group Close Brothers and South African Firstrand Bank.
The claims went through separate regional courts around England, but were merged together and taken to Court of Appeal back in July by Consumer Right Solicitors.
The implications of this ruling caused Close Brothers’ share price to plummet. Over the last month, its share price has fallen by nearly 45 per cent.
Right after the ruling, Close Brothers’ issued a statement to its shareholders, stating it “disagrees with the court’s extension of the existing case law in this area.”
The bank also said it would be appealing this decision to the UK Supreme Court.
However, according to three sealed orders by the court, Close Bothers’ and Firstrand Bank’s application for permission to appeal to the highest court in the UK was refused.
The order pointed out that it is not the practice of the court to give reasons for refusal, but the court provided its clarification in this case.
It noted: “It is of the view that there are no arguable grounds for appeal in the present case, which was the clearest possible example of payment of a secret commission to a fiduciary.”
“The law in this area is well settled and in no need of any further clarification,” the court added.
The order also noted that the lenders also have to pay nearly £65,000 for the claimants’ costs of the proceedings, the Appeal hearing and interim payment by 4pm 15 November.
Following this decision, the only option left for the lenders is to apply directly to the Supreme Court, which will first consider if it needs to hear the case.
Close Brothers was contacted for a comment.