High Court Orders Defendant to Pay £250,000 Security in Personal Guarantee Dispute

Stephen Hackett acted in a recent High Court application concerning a significant claim under a personal guarantee, in which the Court ordered the defendant to pay £250,000 into court as a condition of defending the proceedings.

On 6 March 2026, Rosalind Phelps KC, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, handed down judgment in an application brought by the claimant Mr Ambrosione (represented by CANDEY) against Michel Péretié, the Chairman of RiverRock European Capital Partners and CEO of RiverBank Luxembourg. The underlying claim seeks payment of over £1 million under a personal guarantee said to bear Mr Péretié’s name and signature. Mr Péretié denies liability, contending that his signature was applied without his authority.

Mr Ambrosione applied for summary judgment against Mr Péretié. In determining that application, the Judge observed that the claimant had presented a “powerful case on the merits at this stage”. She noted features of the documentary evidence that made the defendant’s account “difficult to believe”, including:

• The guarantee wording having been sent from Mr Péretié’s own email address;
• The subject line of the relevant correspondence expressly referring to a guarantee; and
• Mr Péretié’s apparent acknowledgement of personal liability after the maturity date, including offers to raise funds by liquidating personal assets.

Despite these concerns, the Judge concluded that the matter should proceed to trial, given the direct factual dispute between the parties and the incomplete evidential picture at this stage.

However, in making a conditional order, the Court held that this was a clear example of a case where a defence, while possessing some real prospect of success, appeared improbable. The Judge placed particular weight on the absence of contemporaneous documents supporting Mr Péretié’s account, and the lack of clarity as to whether such material had even been sought.

Accordingly, the Court ordered that Mr Péretié must pay £250,000 into court (or provide adequate security) in order to continue defending the claim — an appropriate safeguard, the Judge said, to ensure that the defence was not simply “playing for time”.

Stephen Hackett was instructed by Andrew Dunn (Partner) and Emily Higgins (Senior Solicitor) of CANDEY.