In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court has denied property developer Oliver Morley’s appeal against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), a subsidiary of NatWest Group.
Morley claimed that RBS coerced him into selling parts of his property portfolio to pay back an outstanding £75m loan under threat of liquidation following the financial crisis.
Morley took the loan with RBS in 2006, securing it against his property portfolio in northern England.
When property prices plummeted, he struggled to repay the loan in full by its due date in December 2009.
After negotiations, Morley agreed in 2010 to pay RBS £20.5m to retain part of his portfolio and transfer other properties to a bank subsidiary, reducing the outstanding loan amount by £10m.
In his lawsuit, Morley accused RBS of applying “unlawful pressure” and breaching fair negotiation obligations, alleging the bank aimed to profit and improve its financial position.
However, the High Court rejected his claims in 2020, and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision in early 2021. The Supreme Court’s ruling confirms that RBS did not threaten Morley into signing the deal, dismissing the notion that the bank was “obliged to take a loss.”
