Sagicor Bank Jamaica Ltd (Respondent) v YP Seaton (Appellant) (Jamaica)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2021/0003

Jurisdiction

Jamaica

Parties

Appellant(s)

Y P Seaton

Respondent(s)

Sagicor Bank Jamaica Ltd

Issue

Whether the Court of Appeal erred in (1) finding that the Appellants were due repayment of JMD 9,200,000 rather than JMD 15,254,583.69, (2) not awarding compound interest on that sum, and (3) not ordering account to be taken of the bank accounts from which the wrongful debits were made on the basis that those accounts accrued compound interest.

Facts

On 16 October 1992, the Bank debited JMD 15,254,583.69 from accounts held by the Appellants with the Bank. Later, on a date prior to 6 August 1993, the Bank froze certain foreign currency accounts held at the Bank by Mr Seaton. Both actions were taken by the Bank in relation to a dispute that had arisen between the Jamaica Commodity Trading Company (JCTC), a statutory body responsible for importing certain products into Jamaica, and a Belgian supplier Prolacto SA (Prolacto). The Appellants were Prolacto’s agent and responsible for converting payments made by the JCTC in JMD to USD for remittance to Prolacto. The Supreme Court of Jamaica held that the debits above were unlawful and ordered an account to be taken of the frozen foreign currency accounts. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, including reducing the amount payable, and substituting the award of compound interest for simple interest. The Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal to the JCPC on 26 October 2020.

Date of issue

21 December 2020

Judgment details

Judgment date

8 December 2022

Neutral citation

[2022] UKPC 48

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Hodge

Lord Kitchin

Lord Burrows

Lord Stephens

Lady Rose

Hearing dates

Start date

12 May 2022

End date

12 May 2022

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