Credit Suisse Fails to Topple $600 Million Rogue-Banker Bill

A Credit Suisse unit in Bermuda lost its UK court fight to topple a $600 million damages award to sanctioned Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The Privy Council — the top tribunal for cases brought in many British territories — dismissed five of Credit Suisse’s six appeals, siding with it only on one point over the starting date for damages, in a decision handed down on Monday.

The dispute was first heard in Bermuda where an offshore life insurance policy was based that was recommended to Ivanishvili for his investments.

The case marks the end of the road for one of the few remaining cases in the scandal surrounding rogue banker Patrice Lescaudron who was convicted in 2018 for having run a scheme to steal from clients, principally Ivanishvili, to cover losses in other client’s portfolios.

Credit Suisse argued throughout Lescaudron’s criminal trial, and since, that he was a lone wolf who hid his crimes from colleagues and supervisors. Still, the scandal was one of many that slowly eroded investor confidence in the bank leading to its rescue by larger rival UBS in 2023.

A spokesperson for UBS said they’ve taken note of the decision, declining to comment further.

Georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili; photo credit: Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto/Getty Images

The original damages award was granted in 2022 by a Bermuda chief justice who ruled that Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd. had turned a blind eye to Lescaudron’s fraud. CS Life lost its first appeal in the island nation’s capital Bermuda that same year.

At a June hearing, lawyers for CS Life argued that the award is based on far too broad a date range and interpretation of the scope of its contractual responsibility to Ivanishvili. In a nod to that request, the Privy Council on Monday adjusted by a few months the start date for two of those insurance policies.

Top photograph: Credit Suisse branding. Photo credit: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

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