The effect of Brexit on foreign currency exchange rates is already being felt in costs calculations in the English courts.
In Elkamet Kunststofftechnik GmnH v Saint-Gobain Glass France SA [2016] EWHC 3421 (Pat), the High Court ordered an additional payment of costs be made to reflect the loss caused by the decline in the exchange rate between the pound and the euro since the EU referendum in June 2016. However, in Bruce Macinnes v Hans Thomas Gross [2017] EWHC 127 (QB), the Court was uncomfortable about making a similar order. The full extent of the ramifications of the UK's departure from the EU will not be known for some time. However, given the current uncertainty, parties would be well advised to undertake a review of their commercial relationships. Ideally, contractual documentation should be updated to reflect the new lie of the land post-Brexit (though of course the precise topography will remain uncertain). Further, parties should always be alive to the possibility of world events potentially triggering any force majeure or material adverse change clauses
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