UBS - Credit Suisse loses Singapore lawsuit filed by Georgian billionaire Ivanishvili

2023-05-26 11:17:30 ET

Credit Suisse ( NYSE: CS ) was ordered by a Singapore court to pay what looks to be hundreds of millions of dollars to billionaire and former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, dealing another blow to the bank that has struggled with scandals for years.

Over a year ago, a Bermuda court ruled in Ivanishvili's favor, awarding him damages "substantially in excess" of $500M over the same issue.

The Singapore court set damages at $926M, less $79.4M for an earlier settlement. The total will be also reduced further by sums recovered in a Bermuda case, ensuring there's no double recovery.

Ivanishvili sued Credit Suisse ( CS ), saying he lost $800M on forged trades may by his private banker, Pascale Lescaudron, a former Credit Suisse advisor. The banking relationship started in 2004 when Ivanishvili deposited over $1.1B into a trust, however Lesccaudron misappropriated "many millions of dollars" over the next nine years, according to the suit. The defendants in the suit, including Ivanishvili, his wife and three of his children, claimed damages of ~$1.2B.

The court found that the bank breached its duty to the plaintiffs in failing to safeguard trust assets as of March 2008, "by failing to prevent Mr. Lescaudron from having any further access to the trust assets," the ruling said .

Credit Suisse ( CS ) didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

After years of scandals then a rush of deposit outflows, Credit Suisse ( CS ) was forced to sell itself to UBS in March.

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