VTB Bank PJSC (Appellant/ Defendant) v JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch and Others (Respondents/Claimants)
Wednesday 11 – Thursday 12 February 2026
By Appellant’s Notice filed on 1 July 2025 the Appellant VTB Bank PJSC, appeals the order of the High Court delivered on 13 June 2025.
The case concerns anti-suit injunctions (ASIs) sought by various JP Morgan entities (the “JPM Entities”) to restrain VTB Bank PJSC, a Russian state-owned bank, from pursuing proceedings in the Russian courts that allegedly breach English law arbitration agreements.
The dispute concerns several financial agreements between the JPMorgan entities and VTB: the Unallocated Metals Account Agreement, the Client Agreement, and the ISDA Master Agreement. After sanctions were imposed on VTB following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, JPMorgan closed out transactions and withheld payments on sanctions‑compliance grounds.
VTB then brought three sets of proceedings in Russia relating to each agreement. Although framed as tort claims under Russian law, the English court concluded that they were attempts to enforce contractual obligations governed by English law.
JPMorgan sought to make its interim anti‑suit injunctions final, extend them to additional affiliates, and obtain anti‑enforcement injunctions to prevent VTB from enforcing any Russian judgments. VTB contested jurisdiction and asked the court to discharge the injunctions.