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16 I Companies & Markets bne November 2019
a “red line” for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has suspended its talks with the government on a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) until there is some clarity on the fate of the lender.
Zelenskiy fluffed the question when asked during his recent marathon press conference, saying it was a case
for the courts to decide. The Kyiv Economic Court was supposed to rule on the legitimacy of the nationalisation on October 9, a day before the Zelenskiy press conference, but delayed the decision, which will be made in a closed session, until October 17.
“Heavily biased”
Lawyers representing the bank in the case told the Kyiv Post that the judge in the case is “heavily biased” in favour of Kolomoisky and it is widely expected that he will win.
The London ruling will also maintain the worldwide asset freeze on Kolomoisky and his partner’s assets while the case continues in the UK.
The new ruling overturned a December 2017 judgment by the lower High Court, which ruled that British jurisdiction did not apply to PrivatBank’s claim, reports the Kyiv Post. The bank’s lawyers successfully argued that three English companies and three firms registered in the British Virgin Islands were instrumental in the alleged fraud. According to an initial summary of the COA judgment, shared with the Kyiv Post
by lawyers close to proceedings, the lender is now seeking to recoup $3bn from its former owners.
The claim’s principal amount was $1.9bn initially, growing
to $2.6bn with interest as proceedings in England got under way. Interest has been accruing at $500,000 per day since then.
Halkbank indictment ‘huge matter for Turkey’s Erdogan as alleges wrongdoing right to top of administration’
bne IntelliNews
The bringing of a US criminal case against Turkish state lender Turkiye Halk Bankasi (Halkbank) for participating in an Iran sanctions-busting conspiracy is a huge matter for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “as it alleges wrongdoing right to the top of his administration”.
The Erdogan administration “did everything to try and bury it” added Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets sovereign strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, on October 17.
The investigation behind the case has been simmering
away for several years. The indictment was filed this week
in a Manhattan federal court by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). The SDNY is famously independent of its bosses at Main Justice, in Washington
– given its resources, pursuit of high-profile cases and independence from presidential administrations, as well
as its tenacity, the SDNY is sometimes referred to as the "Sovereign District of New York".
Analysts are thus still debating whether US President Donald Trump was even aware the indictment was about to be filed.
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Erdogan’s level of knowledge of the alleged sanctions-evasion conspiracy has been probed by investigators and the Turkish president has put in a lot of effort appealing firstly to the Obama administration and secondly the Trump administration to have the investigation into Halkbank quashed.
“My read is that Trump was trying to block this as long
as possible but has become so weak with impeachment proceedings and his cock-up now in Syria [in withdrawing US troops, thus allowing Turkey to invade] that he could no longer hold the line for Erdogan,” said Ash.
“He may well have not even known the SDNY was announcing the indictment – the US establishment had just become so fed up with Trump’s foreign policy they just decided to go with it,” he added.
Ash concluded: “So the Halkbank indictment should not be seen as part of the same package of sanctions as those announced by the Treasury earlier in the week [in relation to the Syria incursion]. If anything Trump still tries to protect Erdogan from sanctions due to their special personal bond.”