The liquidator of Barlow Clowes argued that Mr Henwood had dishonestly assisted the dissipation of the investors’ money.

Lord Hoffmann held Mr Henwood was liable, and the deemster had correctly applied the principles of liability for dishonest assistance.

With later transactions he had been informed that the director of Barlow Clowes was misappropriating clients’ money, and no inquiries were made.

Their Lordships accept that there is an element of ambiguity in these remarks which may have encouraged a belief, expressed in some academic writing, that Twinsectra had departed from the law as previously understood and invited inquiry not merely into the defendant’s mental state about the nature of the transaction in which he was participating but also into his views about generally acceptable standards of honesty.

It did not require that he should have had reflections about what those normally acceptable standards were.Lord Nicholls, Lord Steyn gave concurring judgments.