Horizons & Co Secures USD 5 Million Judgment for International Bank in Dubai Courts

DUBAI, UAE: Horizons & Co has secured full debt recovery for an international banking client, obtaining a USD 5 million judgment before the Dubai Courts in a cross-border financing dispute involving multiple credit facilities and a layered security package.

In a case handled by Associate Rowan Noor and Legal Consultant Mohamed Waleed, Horizons & Co successfully secured a judgment in favour of a leading financial institution in a complex banking and finance dispute involving multiple credit facilities, security arrangements, and personal guarantees.

Through extensive documentary evidence, including credit facility agreements, account statements, and expert accounting evidence, the firm established that substantial sums remained outstanding under several financing facilities granted to the defendants and secured by various guarantees and security instruments.

The defendants sought to challenge the claim on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that the dispute should be heard before a foreign court pursuant to jurisdiction clauses contained within the financing documents.

Horizons & Co successfully demonstrated that the Dubai Courts had clear jurisdiction over the dispute on multiple independent grounds. First, the principal borrower was domiciled in the UAE and had performed its contractual obligations within the jurisdiction. Second, UAE-based personal guarantors were joined as co-defendants, providing an additional and independent basis for the jurisdiction of the Dubai Courts. Third, the financing documents expressly preserved the bank’s right to commence proceedings before any court of competent jurisdiction and did not confer exclusive jurisdiction on any foreign forum.

The Court rejected the defendants’ jurisdictional challenge and proceeded to determine the merits of the claim. A court-appointed accounting expert was instructed to review the outstanding indebtedness across all facilities. Following a comprehensive examination of the evidence, the expert confirmed the amounts due and owing. The Court adopted the expert’s findings in full and further attached significant evidential weight to the bank’s electronic records and account statements.

The Dubai Court ultimately ordered all defendants to pay the full outstanding amount of approximately USD 5 million (equivalent to AED 17.86 million), jointly and severally, together with court fees, expert costs, and legal expenses.

Commenting on the judgment, Legal Consultant Mohamed Waleed stated:

"This judgment reinforces that the UAE Courts are a reliable and commercially sophisticated forum for complex cross-border banking disputes. A well-structured security package, properly documented, will be enforced, and a jurisdictional challenge, however it is framed, will not succeed where the legal basis for UAE jurisdiction is clear."