Media’s ability to report on divorce proceedings expanded by new judgement

A high court judge has rejected an attempt by hedge fund tycoon Sir Christopher Hohn to impose a blanket ban on reporting his multi-million pound divorce case.

In a test case that significantly expands the media's ability to report on such hearings, Mrs Justice Roberts has allowed everything conducted in a private hearing to be published, apart from financial information relating to the couple's personal or business affairs. Where financial matters have already been published, they can now be re-reported.

Sir Hohn’s American wife Jamie is asking for hundreds of millions of pounds in what will be the largest divorce award made by a British court. Her lawyers argue that she is entitled to half the property, shares and businesses held by her husband.

However, the couple are disputing the value of their personal wealth, in particular their stake in the TCI hedge fund which Mr Hohn manages. He claims it is worth £64.3m while his wife says its true value is £870m.

The UK has gained the reputation of ‘divorce capital of the world’ due to a number of multimillion-pound settlements awarded to ex-wives, e.g. in the case of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

If you’d like information about divorce and financial settlement please contact Sarah Townsend on 0116 212 1080.

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