In December last year, Credit Suisse has approached the US courts, seeking information that would support the filing of a lawsuit against SoftBank and its other affiliates, in Britain
Credit Suisse headquarters in Zürich. (Credit: Roland zh/Wikipedia)
Credit Suisse has filed a lawsuit with the English High Court to initiate legal proceedings against Japan-based SoftBank Group, over a litigation related to Greensill Capital funds.
The Swiss investment bank seeks to recover $440m of client funds, which the defunct finance firm Greensill Capital had lent to SoftBank-backed Katerra.
Katerra is a US-based construction company, which had filed for bankruptcy last year, with more than $1bn in liabilities.
The lawsuit is part of Credit Suisse’s efforts to retrieve the outstanding money from the collapse of around $10bn in client funds linked to Greensill Capital.
SoftBank, in a statement, said: “We strongly reject any misguided suggestion that any SoftBank entity ever intended to, or did, in fact, harm the interests of Credit Suisse or its funds and we will vigorously defend any claim relating to this matter should a claim actually be brought.”
In late 2020, SoftBank agreed on an emergency cash injection into Greensill, which lent Katerra the $440m that it had borrowed from Credit Suisse clients.
Greensill agreed to write off Katerra’s debt in exchange for a minority stake in the construction company, which went on to file for bankruptcy last year.
According to the Financial Times report, the $440mn cash from SoftBank never reached the customers of the Swiss investment bank.
In December last year, Credit Suisse approached the US courts, seeking information to support a lawsuit it had planned to file against SoftBank and its other affiliates, in Britain.
Furthermore, Credit Suisse alleged that SoftBank devised a financial restructuring of Katerra to gain benefit at the expense of its clients, said the Financial Times report.
In a separate development, SoftBank is set to gain $34.1bn by divesting its stake in Alibaba Group, as the investment company seeks to strengthen its cash reserve.