Landmark Court of Appeal decision in NIOC v Crescent Gas
On 30 September 2025, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in (1) National Iranian Oil Company and (2) Retirement, Saving and Welfare Fund of Oil Industry Workers v Crescent Gas Corporation Limited [2025] EWCA Civ 1211.
The Court of Appeal dismissed NIOC and the Retirement Fund’s respective appeals against the judgment below of Sir Nigel Teare, which had held that the transfer by NIOC to the Fund of a valuable property in London known as NIOC House had been a transaction at an undervalue made for the purpose of putting NIOC House beyond the reach of CGC for the purposes of section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986.
The appeal judgment addresses important points of property, trust and insolvency law, and is the first authoritative determination of the question whether a document signed by an agent can constitute evidence of a declaration of trust for the purposes of section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925.
The Court of Appeal has granted NIOC and the Fund permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. Ewan McQuater KC led the counsel team for the successful respondents on the appeal, leading a team of silks and junior counsel from Essex Court Chambers, Blackstone Chambers and 36 Stone, instructed by Michael Darowski of Reed Smith LLP.
Read the judgment in full here: National Iranian Oil Company v Crescent Gas Corporation Limited [2025] EWCA Civ 1211
