Freezing Injunction
Definition
A court order, often called a Mareva injunction, that prevents a defendant from moving or disposing of assets up to the value of the claim while proceedings are pending. Asset-tracing evidence is the factual foundation for the application.
- Also called
- Mareva injunction
- Effect
- Bars moving or disposing of assets up to claim value
- Timing
- Sought while proceedings are pending
- Evidentiary basis
- Asset-tracing findings
Common questions
What does a claimant need to show a court to obtain a freezing injunction?+
Typically a good arguable case on the underlying claim, identifiable assets within the court's reach, and a real risk that the defendant will dissipate or hide those assets before judgment, which is why detailed asset-tracing evidence is usually filed alongside the application.
Does a freezing injunction transfer ownership of the frozen assets to the claimant?+
No. It only restrains the defendant from dealing with the assets while the case proceeds; ownership and any eventual right to the funds are decided later at trial or through separate enforcement proceedings.
Related terms
- Asset Tracing
- The forensic process of following funds or property from a fraudulent source through subsequent transactions, corporate structures, and jurisdictions to locate where...
- Bank Reconciliation Analysis
- The systematic comparison of bank statements against internal ledgers and third-party transaction records to identify unexplained credits, diverted payments, or missing entries.
- Beneficial Owner
- The natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity or arrangement, as distinct from the nominee or registered owner. Anti-money-laundering...
- OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence)
- Intelligence gathered from publicly available sources without special legal authority. In social media investigation, OSINT covers all content visible to any user:...
- Shell Company
- A legal entity with no genuine business operations, created to receive fraudulent payments. In vendor fraud, the fraudster controls the shell and...