The High Court decided that a pending arbitration in Hong Kong of the same dispute covered by English proceedings commenced by a company controlled by one of the defendants was not a compelling reason to stay prior English proceedings, because inter alia it appeared to be a tactical manoeuvre on the part of the defendant.
There were a number of reasons why the English proceedings should continue, such as the centrality of documents located in the UK. The Court also focused on the fact that the arbitration was commenced on the very last day for the defendant to serve his defence in the English proceedings (after a number of extensions and with no communication from him about the substance of his case and no indication that he considered that arbitration was appropriate) which "strongly suggests that the arbitration may well be a tactical manoeuvre to delay the evil day when this case comes on for trial".
PPF Capital Source v Singh & Anor [2016] EWHC 3097 (Ch)
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