UK Privy Council rejects CS Life appeal in Bidzina Ivanishvili-Credit Suisse case
In a unanimous decision, the court dismissed CS Life’s appeal on all grounds, except for a narrow issue concerning the starting date for calculating damages
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Front News Georgia
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council - the highest court of appeal for Bermuda and other UK overseas territories - has issued its final ruling in the long-running legal dispute between Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Swiss bank Credit Suisse’s life insurance subsidiary, CS Life.
In a unanimous decision, the court dismissed CS Life’s appeal on all grounds, except for a narrow issue concerning the starting date for calculating damages. The judges also rejected the cross-appeal filed by Ivanishvili and related claimants.
As a result, earlier rulings by Bermuda’s courts - which held Credit Suisse liable for compensating Ivanishvili for losses caused by its former employee - remain in force.
According to the Privy Council’s press release, Ivanishvili transferred approximately $750 million in cash and other assets into CS Life between 2011 and 2012 as premium payments for two life-insurance policies. These assets were required to be held in segregated accounts.
In 2015, Ivanishvili discovered that Credit Suisse banker Patrice Lescaudron had been conducting fraudulent transactions using the policy assets. Swiss authorities opened a criminal investigation, and Lescaudron was convicted in 2018. He later died by suicide.
Ivanishvili, family members, and two representative companies filed a lawsuit in Bermuda in 2017, accusing CS Life of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. In 2020, they also added a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation.
Bermuda’s Chief Justice ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on all major points. The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the findings on breach of contract and fiduciary duty but overturned the ruling on fraudulent misrepresentation.
CS Life appealed to the UK Privy Council, while the plaintiffs filed a cross-appeal on the misrepresentation issue. The Privy Council has now dismissed both challenges, largely affirming the earlier decisions that require Credit Suisse’s subsidiary to pay damages.
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