Credit Suisse can take legal action against SoftBank for Greensill debt
A Credit Suisse logo in the window of a bank branch of Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Credit Suisse is seeking information from the U.S. courts that could result in it taking legal action in the UK against SoftBank Group Corp to reclaim monies it claims are owed to its Greensill-affiliated supply chain finance funds, such as Show US court documents.
The second largest bank in Switzerland has been trying to get money back from the collapse of around $ 10 billion in funds related to the insolvent supply chain finance company Greensill.
Credit Suisse declined to comment, while SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Swiss bank is focused on roughly $ 2.3 billion in loans that Greensill, which imploded in March, made to three counterparties, including SoftBank-backed Katerra, who are late in payment.
Katerra requested bankruptcy in June and had estimated liabilities of $ 1 billion to $ 10 billion and assets of $ 500 billion to $ 1 billion, according to court records at the time.
In a petition filed Thursday in a U.S. federal court in San Francisco, Credit Suisse is looking for information that would allegedly support a lawsuit against SoftBank and other affiliates in the UK for $ 440 million that Katerra allegedly owes .
“The documents requested by the subpoena are relevant to an anticipated legal proceeding in England against, among others, SoftBank Group Corp. Limited, SVF II Abode (Cayman) Limited and SVF Habitat (Cayman) Limited, ”the bank’s lawyers said on the filing.
Credit Suisse filed a Section 1782 Discovery on Thursday for documents and communications to be exchanged between SoftBank and Katerra. This law allows foreign parties to go to U.S. courts for evidence to be used in proceedings.
The Swiss bank is trying to find out what SoftBank executives, including chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son, knew about Katerra’s restructuring plans by submitting documents to U.S. courts.
The Financial Times first reported on the move on Friday.