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2.2​ ​Singapore Court admits Georgian billionaire Ivanishvili’s dispute against Credit Suisse
The Supreme Court of Singapore on July 3 reversed the decision of a lower court that ruled that that the ongoing dispute between Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and Credit Suisse’s local subsidiary is not substantial in the case of Bidzina Ivanishvili v. Credit Suisse.
The new decision stipulates that Singapore must also be involved in the legal assessment process.
According to court records, in 2005 Credit Suisse set up a trust in Singapore called the Mandalay Trust, in which Ivanishvili placed a $550mn deposit. In December 2014, $698mn was transferred to the company, while in September 2015, only $438mn remained in the trust account.
Ivanishvili says that the money was lost through the fraud of his personal banker, Patrick Lescadron, for which Credit Suisse must take responsibility.
"This decision confirms that the legal issues concerning Singapore must be heard in Singapore. The Credit Suisse legal team has spent the last five years avoiding litigation in the same country. This precious time could have been spent instead to achieve the satisfactory verdict for which the applicants had initiated the dispute,” Ivanishvili said in a statement.
2.3​ ​US to condition part of assistance to Georgia on rule of law
A committee of the United States House approved the Fiscal Year 2021 foreign assistance bill, provisioning $132mn for Georgia — with part of it (15%) conditioned on reforms in the area of rule of law and democracy, though. The bill is now heading to the full committee for markup.
The bill envisages withholding the assistance funds. In particular, 15% of the funds made available for assistance for the government of Georgia, “may not be obligated” until the secretary of state determines and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the central Georgian government is taking effective steps to strengthen democratic institutions, combat corruption within the government (including in the application of anti-corruption laws and regulations) and ensure the rule of law in the private sector is consistent with internationally recognised standards.
The latter, according to the bill, includes “protecting the rights of foreign businesses to operate free from harassment and to fully realise all due commercial and financial benefits resulting from investments made in Georgia.”
The withholding will not apply to programmes that support democracy, the rule of law, civil society and the media, or programmes to reduce gender-based violence and to protect vulnerable populations.
The secretary may waive the application of withholding funds paragraph if the secretary determines and reports to the Committees that to do so serves the
7​ GEORGIA Country Report ​August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com