High-value divorce case of a former UBS banker heads to the UK's Supreme Court
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Clive Standish, a ex-UBS executive's bitter divorce clash reaches the UK's peak court as he and his lady love strive over assets linked to a tax planning scheme. This financial battle of ex-UBS's CFO and his missus is no ordinary squabble, it's setting precedents for high-value financial disputes, particularly concerning non-matrimonial assets.
Mr. Standish, swiss bank UBS's former chief financial officer, has been entangled in legal tangles with his spouse over their £132 million family fortune ever since his retirement in 2007. They met through his spouse's first marriage, and he even serves as their daughter's godfather.
In 2005, Clive and Anna tied the knot in the winter, conceived two beautiful children, and resided in Australia and Switzerland before settling in London. They parted ways in 2020, and since then, they've been at loggerheads over their wealth and assets. The upcoming court session will take place over Wednesday and Thursday.
Eight years ago, Mr. Standish sought to elude UK inheritance tax as he would be domiciled in Britain by April 2017. Wary of the imminent tax, he transferred approximately £77 million worth of assets to his wife in March and April 2017, assets that later appreciated by over £80 million.
Despite the advice to transfer the assets into a trust, Clive's wife apparently failed to do so, and as per his lawyers, she filed for divorce proceedings. The £80 million has been the main bone of contention in their legal feud. Mr. Standish insists that the majority of these assets were non-matrimonial, but the court dismissed this claim.
During the 2022 trial, Mr. Justice Moor held that those assets were indeed matrimonial assets and split them 60/40 in Clive's favor. As a result, the wife received assets worth £45 million and was subsequently ordered to transfer the remaining assets she possessed.
However, the Court of Appeal, the year prior, deemed that the assets transferred to the wife were not matrimonialized during their hearing. The court also reduced the wife's total award by 40 percent to £25 million.
The wife, represented by celebrity divorce lawyer Fiona Shackleton, is waging an appeal to the Supreme Court. They intend to nullify the Court of Appeal's decision. This contentious case could set a stirring precedent for the power elite and leave a lasting impact on regular folks alike.
According to Amy Radnor, partner at Farrer & Co, the Standish case, while centering on the wealthy, has implications far beyond that demographic. She stated that the "implications of this case are extremely wide-reaching." It's crucial to remember, as Amy clarified, that in financial remedy proceedings, the origin of wealth is vital, even after inter-spousal transfers, striking a balance between fairness and strategies to "matrimonialize" pre-existing assets.
Sources:1. Non-matrimonial assets and the 'sharing principle': The Standish case judgement2. Clive Standish divorce: How the Supreme Court could change asset division laws for all couples
- Clive Standish, previously the CFO of Swiss bank UBS, is involved in a contentious Supreme Court case regarding the division of a £132 million fortune with his ex-wife, Anna, following their divorce in 2020.
- The primary contention in this case is the matrimonial status of assets worth £80 million, which Clive Standish transferred to his wife in 2017 to avoid UK inheritance tax.
- Fiona Shackleton, the wife's celebrity divorce lawyer, is challenging the Court of Appeal's decision that these assets remained matrimonial, arguing for a revision to the case's precedent.
- The outcome of this case may have far-reaching implications, particularly for non-matrimonial assets in high-value financial disputes, as Amy Radnor, a partner at Farrer & Co, suggests, stressing the importance of the origin of wealth and strategies to "matrimonialize" pre-existing assets in financial remedy proceedings.
