EUROPEAN banks ABN AMRO and Natixis yesterday rejected claims by the trustee seeking to recoup more than $1 billion for victims of the convicted US swindler Bernard Madoff.
Irving Picard, the trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS) filed complaints against Citigroup’s Citibank, Natixis, Fortis, ABN AMRO, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Nomura and Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America.
“Natixis denies the allegations made and intends to take all steps to defend its position and preserve its rights,” the French bank said.
State-owned bank ABN AMRO, which has merged with Fortis, would defend itself “vigorously” and was still waiting to receive the complaint before commenting further, an ABN spokesman said. BBVA declined to comment.
The other banks were not immediately available to comment.
The financial institutions received transfers of money from BLMIS through numerous Madoff feeder funds when they either knew or should have known of Madoff’s fraud, the trustee said.
“Natixis has acted in good faith at all times and has not benefited from, nor did it assist in or have knowledge of, the fraud carried out by Bernard Madoff. On the contrary, Natixis has itself started a criminal action in Paris,” Natixis said.
Separately, HSBC Holdings, Europe’s biggest lender, was sued yesterday by a group of 650 German investors in Luxembourg who are seeking compensation for losses they suffered via a fund that invested assets with Madoff.
The group of mainly private investors is claiming some €25 million in damages from HSBC, alleging the London-based bank is liable for their losses through Herald (Lux) US Absolute Return Fund.
HSBC has also been sued by investors in Ireland over its duties as custodian for Thema International Fund Plc and AA (Alternative Advantage) Plc, two funds that lost money in the fraud.
Last week, Picard sued JPMorgan Chase for $6.4 billion over claims the New York-based bank aided and abetted the fraud.
Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) and a related fund, M-Invest Limited, have settled for $500 million, the trustee said on Monday, while some US firms or executives reached settlements earlier this year.
Picard is also trying to recover money for investors with a claim against Swiss bank UBS for $2.5 billion and is seeking $9 billion in a US suit against HSBC, which says the claim is unfounded.
Madoff (72) is serving a 150-year prison sentence after admitting to orchestrating a worldwide fraud of about $65 billion.
So far, Picard and his team of lawyers have recovered about $2.6 billion. – (Reuters / Bloomberg)
