The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, also known as the London-based Supreme Court, has handed down its final judgment in the case of Bidzina Ivanishvili and Credit Suisse.

The Privy Council unanimously dismisses CS Life’s appeal on all issues save for the correct start date for the assessment of damages. The Board also dismisses the cross-appeal.

The court upheld previous decisions ordering the Swiss bank to pay damages to Bidzina Ivanishvili.

“The Privy Council unanimously dismisses CS Life’s appeal on all points except the precise commencement date of the damages. The Council also dismisses the cross-appeal.

In the light of the Council’s findings, CS Life’s appeal should be dismissed, except in one respect. This concerns the commencement dates of the assessment of damages. Maintaining the approach of running the calculations from the last day of the month, the start date for the assessment of damages should therefore be 31 October 2011 (instead of 30 September 2011) for the Meadowsweet policy and 30 November 2012 (instead of 30 September 2012) for the Sandcay policy The damages awarded to the claimants should be recalculated, for the Meadowsweet policy from 31 October 2011 (instead of 30 September 2011) and for the Sandcay policy from 30 November 2012 (instead of 30 September 2012). In making the calculations, any loss resulting from any unauthorised transactions during the period in which the premium was due to CS Life should be added to the actual value of the assets on those commencement dates. before the commencement of the policy,” reads a press release from the High Court in London, which it has issued on its decision in the case of Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd (the claimant) v. Bidzina Ivanishvili and 6 other persons (the defendants).

In the cross-appeal, the plaintiffs crossappealed against the dismissal of their misrepresentation claim. They argue that the Court of Appeal erred in overturning that decision.

The court documents explain that the issues in the cross-appeal are: whether the Court of Appeal was correct in finding that the claim for misrepresentation was dismissed because: the plaintiffs had failed to prove that Mr Ivanishvili had any conscious knowledge of the statements made to him. The claim was also subject to Georgian statute of limitations and was filed after the expiration of the three-year statute of limitations established by Georgian law.

According to the court press release, the appellant, Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd (“CS Life”), a Bermuda insurance company, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG (“the Bank”).

“The appellant, Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd (“CS Life”), a Bermuda insurance company, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG (“the Bank”). Mr Bidzina Ivanishvili, the first respondent to the appeal, is a businessman and former Prime Minister of Georgia. On the Bank’s advice, Mr Ivanishvili transferred cash and other assets amounting to some US$750 million, held on trust, to CS Life in 2011 and 2012 as premiums for two life insurance policies. The policy assets were to be held in a separate account. Mr Ivanishvili had a choice whether they were to be invested on a discretionary or non-discretionary basis. In 2015, Mr Ivanishvili discovered that his relationship manager at Credit Suisse, Mr Patrice Lescaudron, an employee of the Bank, had been dealing fraudulently with the policy assets. Mr Lescaudron was prosecuted in Switzerland and convicted of criminal offences in February 2018. He later committed suicide. In 2017, Mr Ivanishvili, members of his family and two companies which are the named policyholders brought proceedings against CS Life in Bermuda, alleging breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. In 2020 they also claimed damages for fraudulent misrepresentation. These claims succeeded at a trial before the Chief Justice of Bermuda. The Court of Appeal dismissed CS Life’s appeal against the award of damages for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty but allowed the appeal in relation to the misrepresentation claim. From that decision CS Life now appeals to the Privy Council. The plaintiffs have crossappealed against the dismissal of their misrepresentation claim”, reads the press release.