Financial Times:

Standard Chartered has failed in its attempt to narrow the scope of a £1.5bn lawsuit over claims that its breaches of sanctions against Iran were more widespread than it has acknowledged.

The High Court in London on Tuesday ruled against the Asia-focused bank, which was trying to slash the value of the lawsuit by blocking hundreds of funds from taking part.

A central issue was whether investors who had not read statements issued by the bank that were alleged to be misleading would be allowed to sue. These include passive funds, which automatically hold all stocks in a given index. The court decided in favour of the investors.

The decision comes after a judgment in another similar shareholder lawsuit against Barclays. In that case, the court ruled that any claimant would be required to prove that they had read — or was at least aware of the gist — of statements that they were complaining about.

Almost 1,400 funds are claiming a total of about £1.5bn from Standard Chartered in a case previously described by the judge as “litigation on a grand and complex scale”.

Investors accuse the FTSE 100 bank of issuing misleading statements and omitting crucial information, particularly about its compliance with US sanctions on Iran.

They argue they relied on flawed information when they took the decision to invest in Standard Chartered, and suffered losses as a result. The bank denies the claims against it, saying they were “without merit”.

The case is one of several brought by investors in London-listed companies seeking compensation for declines in share prices, a long-standing trend in the US that has gained momentum in the UK.

At a hearing last month, Standard Chartered called for the removal from the case of about 950 funds, which had claimed a total of about £760mn.

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