William Buck and Jen Coyne in the Supreme Court in LA Micro Group Inc – on whether an agreement to transfer the beneficial interest in shares in a private company to the legal owner of such shares must be in signed writing under s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925

William Buck and Jen Coyne appear for the First Appellant in the Supreme Court today, in LA Micro Group Inc and others v LA Micro Group (UK) Ltd, led by Clare Stanley KC (and alongside Alex Barden for the Second Appellant), instructed by Tom Bolam and Cecilia Ricks of Fladgate LLP.

In an appeal likely to be of significance for commercial and commercial trusts law, the Supreme Court (Lord Hodge, Lord Briggs, Lord Sales, Lord Burrows, Lord Richards) will hear argument on:

• (Subject to permission for the Respondents) Whether the scope of the requirement for signed writing to dispose of an equitable interest in s.53(1)(c) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (“LPA 1925”) is solely land, or includes dispositions of personal property such as shares.
• Whether the Court of Appeal ([2023] EWCA Civ 214) was correct to find that the First Appellant’s disposal of its beneficial interests in shares in a private company to the registered legal owners (its trustees) was effective under an oral agreement, notwithstanding the requirement for signed writing in s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925, by way of a vendor-purchaser constructive trust which fell within the exception in s.53(2) LPA 1925.

Further details are available on the Supreme Court website.