QFC 0022/2020 issued on 27/1/2021, [2021] QIC F (1)
Amberberg Limited v Aycan Richards
The initial dispute involved a claim that a shareholder and CEO of a QFC company had taken unlawful actions which damage the company and new shareholders. The claimant company stated it was now the sole 100% shareholder in the company but was not based in either Qatar or the QFC. There was a request for a summary ruling on the QFC Court's jurisdiction. A key point was that being the 100% shareholder did not automatically change the jurisdiction position where a party was outside the QFC or Qatar.
Background
A Claimant company described itself as the sole, 100% shareholder of International Financial Services (Qatar) LLC (IFSQ). It issued a claim on 17 December 2020 against the Defendant, who lived in Doha and was at one time both a shareholder in IFSQ and the company's CEO. In the claim form, the Claimant alleged that the Defendant had undertaken “unlawful actions and manipulations towards IFSQ and new shareholders”. They asked the court, “to enforce the investor rights and protection under QFC Rules” and require the Defendant “to stop any malpractice towards its IFSQ business or any of the firm's assets”.