France’s biggest bank, BNP Paribas SA, lost two lawsuits seeking to force UBS AG to release a combined 2.5 million euros ($3.1 million) that had been invested with two funds linked to the arrested manager Bernard Madoff, who is accused of running a $50 billion fraud.
The representative of BNP Paribas in Paris refused to immediately comment this, when reached by phone. Judge said in her ruling that BNP’s requests were “completely inadmissible”. UBS spokeswoman said the bank was “pleased” with the decisions.
A Luxembourg court rejected BNP’s requests in two rulings. BNP had sought the return of money that were held by UBS for separate funds that had invested money with Madoff. The rulings are among those four from Luxembourg courts that ruled that UBS did not have to immediately pay investors’ claims for redemptions from funds linked to Madoff. UBS had argued it cannot make payments on pending requests while investigations into Madoff are continuing.
More than 15 Madoff-related cases have been filed in Luxembourg courts by investors seeking repayments or documents to establish liability, and the majority of the cases are against UBS. In one of the lawsuits, BNP targeted UBS for a payment from an account it holds for the British Virgin Islands-registered Groupement Financier fund. The company sought 1.5 million euros from UBS from the Groupement Financier account, which has about 250,000 euros left.