Credit Suisse loses Singapore case with Georgian tycoon

The ruling marks another major setback for Credit Suisse after the loss to Ivanishvili in Bermuda court. Keystone / Str

A Credit Suisse Group AG unit was ordered by a Singapore court to compensate billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili what may be hundreds of millions of dollars, in yet another blow for the bank in the long-running legal saga. 

Singapore-based Credit Suisse Trust Ltd. breached its duty to the plaintiffs in failing to safeguard the trust assets, according to a judgment posted on Friday. The court assessed his damages at $926 million, minus deductions for an earlier $79.4 million settlement. The amount could be further subject to change “so as to ensure there is no double recovery” given that a Bermuda court last year awarded Ivanishvili more than $600 million in damages in the case. 

“The loss suffered by the plaintiffs is the difference between what would have been achieved if the whole portfolio had been removed and managed by a competent, professional trustee and the trust assets were not affected by fraud, and what was actually achieved,” Judge Patricia Bergin wrote in her 248-page verdict.

“The judgment published today is wrong and poses very significant legal issues,” a spokesperson for Credit Suisse said in an e-mailed statement, adding the trust intends to “vigorously pursue an appeal.” A spokesman for Ivanishvili was not immediately available to comment. 

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The ruling marks another major setback for Credit Suisse after the loss to Ivanishvili in Bermuda court, a conviction for money-laundering in Switzerland and a raft of other scandals that undermined investor confidence in the bank. The bank had to accept a government-brokered takeover by larger rival UBS Group AG, which is expected to close soon.  

The judgment highlighted the trust’s failure to prevent private banker Patrice Lescaudron from having any further access to the Trust assets. Lescaudron was convicted in 2018 for fraud over a scheme he ran to take money from Ivanishvili’s accounts to cover growing losses among other clients’ portfolios. 

If the parties are unable to reach agreement on costs and or interest, they should file an agreed timeline for submissions on this matter by no later than June 30, according to the judgment.

Cavinder Bull from Drew & Napier LLC was lead counsel for Ivanishvili. Lee Eng Beng from Rajah & Tann and Allen & Gledhill LLP represented the trust.

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