ZURICH (Reuters) – A Bermuda appeals court on Friday largely dismissed Credit Suisse’s appeal in an ongoing case involving the Swiss bank’s local life insurance arm and Georgia’s former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“The time has come for Credit Suisse to take responsibility for the crimes committed by its personnel, accept the rulings and repay in full the damages awarded by the Courts,” a spokesperson for Ivanishvili said in a statement.
In March the court said that Ivanishvili and his family were due damages of more than $600 as a result of a long-running fraud committed by a former Credit Suisse adviser, Pascale Lescaudron.
A client of Credit Suisse between 2005 and 2015, Ivanishvili alleged he racked up hundreds of millions in losses due to forged trades made by Lescaudron, appointed to handle his investments in 2006.
Credit Suisse appealed the March verdict handed to its Bermuda life insurance subsidiary, CS Life, which is in the process of being wound down.
Bermuda’s court on Friday overturned the judge’s finding that CS Life had made fraudulent misrepresentations, but largely upheld its initial judgement.
Credit Suisse, which was recently taken over by UBS, said it “intends to vigorously pursue an appeal to the privy council” in a statement on Friday.
Last month Ivanishvili won a separate case against Credit Suisse, which recently merged with former rival UBS
Credit Suisse was ordered to pay $926 million to the Georgian billionaire for losing part of his fortune, in a Singapore court ruling that represents one of the biggest legal awards made against the bank.
Singapore’s International Commercial Court said a unit of Credit Suisse had not acted in good faith and neglected to keep the assets of Ivanishvili safe.
(Reporting by Noele Illien, Editing by Louise Heavens)
