The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest appeals body for the UK’s overseas territories, has upheld a 2022 ruling by a Bermuda court ordering UBS/Credit Suisse to pay USD 607 million in compensation to former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. The bank had appealed the earlier decision, but the Privy Council released its final judgment today, leaving the compensation order in force. This is the second major international legal defeat for Credit Suisse in its long-running dispute with Ivanishvili, following a USD 461 million compensation order issued by a Singapore court.
The compensation dispute originated from insurance-linked investment products that Ivanishvili and his family purchased from Credit Suisse Life in Bermuda in 2011–2012, totaling roughly USD 750 million. In 2015, Ivanishvili discovered that approximately USD 400 million had been misappropriated through fraudulent transactions arranged by his personal banker, Patrice Lescaudron, who later admitted to forging documents and signatures. Although Credit Suisse argued that Lescaudron acted alone, courts in Bermuda and Singapore concluded that the bank failed in its supervisory responsibilities and held it liable for the losses.
UBS acquired Credit Suisse in March 2023 and has since inherited all legal liabilities associated with the case. The bank has already placed the required compensation sums into an interest-bearing escrow account pending final judgments. While the Singapore compensation remains blocked under U.S. sanctions imposed on Ivanishvili in December 2024, meaning he cannot receive the USD 461 million without explicit approval from the U.S. Treasury, the sanctions document does not mention the Bermuda or Privy Council proceedings. As a result, it remains unclear whether the newly confirmed USD 607 million award will also require U.S. authorization before payment.
The ruling represents another major legal setback for UBS/Credit Suisse, which has now lost in every jurisdiction where the Ivanishvili cases were litigated. It also raises geopolitical questions regarding the enforcement of compensation awards in light of existing U.S. sanctions. Whether Ivanishvili will be able to access the USD 607 million remains uncertain, as financial institutions typically seek clarity from U.S. authorities even when sanctions documents are silent on related cases. For now, the Privy Council’s decision marks the legal conclusion of the Bermuda dispute, but not necessarily the end of the payment process.
