Olint Corp Ltd v NCB & Jamaica Ltd 2

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

IN THE CIVIL DIVISION

CLAIM NO. 2008 HCV 00118

BETWEEN OLlNT CORP. LIMITED CLAIMANT

AND NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK

JAMAICA LIMITED DEFENDANT

Maurice Manning and Georgia Gibson-Henlin instructed by Catherine Minto of Nunes Scholefield

& DeLeon & Co. for Claimant.

Michael Hylton Q.C. and Carlene Larmond for Defendant

Heard: March 17hSh and April 18B-

[ I 1 In January 1720 in the United Kingdom, the South Sea Company offered shares to

the public at the modest price of £128.00. The directors of the company in an effort to whip up

interest in the company's shares, published claims of great success and far-fetched tales of South

Sea riches to entice investors. One such claim was that it was a "company for carrying out an

undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is". By the end of June 1720, the

share price rose to £1080.00. As the events unfolded, it led to what is euphemistically called the

"South Sea Bubble".

[2] Unlike the South Sea Company, Olint Corp. Limited (hereinafter called the Claimant)

provides customer services to its members as a private club. It is widely reported in the public

media to be involved in what is said to be the lucrative business of foreign currency trading, but no

one knows for sure. It is also widely reported to be one of a group of "alternative investment