Credit Suisse loses Singapore case against Georgia's richest billionaire

Georgia's richest billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili won a lawsuit against Credit Suisse's "daughter" in Singapore. The structure of the Swiss bank was ordered to pay him compensation, which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. It is reported by forbes.ru.

The Singapore court ordered the local "daughter" of Credit Suisse to pay compensation to Georgia's richest billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, recognizing that Credit Suisse Trust violated its obligations to the plaintiffs and did not protect the assets of the trust. “The defendant is obliged to compensate the plaintiffs for their losses,” the court’s decision emphasizes.

“The loss suffered by the claimants is the difference between what they would have received if their entire portfolio had been set aside and managed by a competent, professional trustee, and the assets of the trust were not affected by fraud, and what they actually got” , the 248-page document says.

The court estimated the damage to Ivanishvili at $926 million, but reduced this amount by $79.43 million, noting that this was provided for by the settlement agreement between the parties. In addition, the court ruled that the parties must adjust the amount of damages "to eliminate double damages" - in 2022, the Bermuda court already awarded Ivanishvili more than $600 million in this case. If the parties do not agree on the amount, they must submit relevant materials to the court no later than June 30.

In February 2023, Credit Suisse reported that it paid Ivanishvili $210 million "as part of the proceedings on all of the plaintiff's accounts."

The Credit Suisse Trust intends to appeal the court's decision because it considers it unfair and creates "serious legal problems," a spokesman for the Swiss bank told Bloomberg.

Shares of Credit Suisse were down 1.2% in Zurich trading at CHF 0.78 at press time.

Ivanishvili is suing Credit Suisse in several jurisdictions, the total amount of claims is about $ 800 million. Ivanishvili claims that he suffered from the actions of former Credit Suisse manager Patrice Lescaudron, who was convicted of fraud in 2018, was released in 2019 and in 2020 committed suicide. Lescaudron admitted that during the financial crisis of 2008, he began to cover losses from his transactions with clients' money. The Singapore court ruling emphasizes that the Credit Suisse Trust was unable to prevent Lescaudron's access to the trust's assets.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing a report by the Swiss regulator FINMA, that Credit Suisse had comments on the manager's actions, but did not take any action. Credit Suisse denies this and, after the publication of the report, filed a lawsuit in London against Ivanishvili and other investors.

Bidzina Ivanishvili is the richest businessman in Georgia, follows from the Forbes Real-Time rating, which is updated in real time. The billionaire's fortune is estimated at $4.9 billion. From October 2012 to November 2013, Ivanishvili was the Prime Minister of Georgia.