The ongoing legal dispute between Dram Oil & Trading Limited (Dram) and Deloitte & Touche Ghana (Deloitte Ghana) is drawing increasing international attention, with potential legal implications extending to the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.
Information made available to the Ghana News Agency indicates that the matter has material links to the United Kingdom through a UK-based financial counterparty whose position was directly connected to the conduct at the centre of the dispute.
Mr Nigel Heilpern, a Counsel at Avonhurst Legal Services LLP, English solicitors acting for Dram, said they had reviewed the cross-border legal implications of the matter under English law, particularly in relation to possible vicarious liability within the wider Deloitte network.
He said, according to the review, there was a credible basis for instituting proceedings in England and Wales against UK-based Deloitte entities following the conclusion of the Ghanaian proceedings.
He said the potential claims were said to arise from issues of vicarious liability and agency linked to the operational control allegedly exercised by Deloitte South Africa over Deloitte Ghana, and by Deloitte UK over regional operations, audit methodology, standards and decision-making within the governance structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
The review also referenced Deloitte’s Global Principles of Business Conduct, which present the Deloitte network as operating under common professional standards of quality and accountability across member firms.
He said Dram Oil cited the February 23, 2009, ruling by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in the Parmalat Securities Litigation involving Deloitte as part of the broader legal context under consideration.
He said Dram expressly reserved all rights to pursue proceedings and recovery measures in England and Wales, as well as in any other appropriate jurisdiction, adding that the implications for UK-based Deloitte entities remained under active legal review.
The company said it remained committed to pursuing the proceedings to their “full and final conclusion” and achieving accountability for the losses it claimed to have suffered.
“No settlement proposal extinguishing its claims without accountability had been or would be accepted,” he added.
The proceedings, currently before the Accra Commercial Division of the High Court, arise from what Dram Oil described as the seriously alleged improper conduct of a Deloitte Ghana partner in connection with a court-ordered audit engagement.
Dram Oil alleged that the conduct caused substantial and continuing financial losses to the company, while related matters referred to the Ghana Police Service remain under review.
According to Dram Oil, the proceedings were active and continuing, with Ghanaian courts having dismissed or struck out applications filed by Deloitte Ghana seeking to inhibit, limit or strike out the company’s claims.
The company said the case was advancing toward full determination on its merits.
Dram Oil also said Deloitte Ghana had allegedly expressed willingness to resolve the dispute only on terms requiring the discontinuation of proceedings and the abandonment of all present and future claims across jurisdictions.
The company said it had rejected those terms, insisting that the issues before the Ghanaian court required a full judicial determination and accountability, including in relation to the matter’s wider cross-border dimensions.
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