Deutsche Bank Hits Billionaire Forex Investor With $300 Million Lawsuit

Billionaire investor Alexander Vik was served a fresh lawsuit yesterday after recently being let off the hook by a New York judge on 9 March.

Last month the court ruled that Deutsche Bank AG hadn’t properly served him a suit of an over $300 million U.K. judgment regarding debts arising from his bets on foreign Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term markets.

In the court hearing last month, the judge dismissed a suit filed by Deutsche Bank against Vik, his wife and his fund, Sebastian Holdings, after the New York residence that Deutsche Bank delivered the court papers to was found not to be the family's usual place of residence.

Vik had contended that he couldn’t be served in the U.S. because he is rarely in the country and spends most of his time in Monaco. Deutsche Bank was therefore given an additional 120 days to serve the complaint to the couple.

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The case stems from the bank's allegations that Vik had stripped his Sebastian Holdings fund of all its assets, transferring $1 billion to himself and other entities controlled by his immediate family. He did this after realising that the fund had incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in losses in 2008 on bets it placed in foreign exchange markets, and consequently faced imminent margin calls from the bank.

According to Deutsche Bank, the fund then informed them that it didn't have sufficient assets to pay its Obligations Obligations In finance, an obligation is a financial responsibility where the terms of a contract must be met. Should an obligation between parties fail then the party who is at default may face legal action. In this scenario, the guilty party will not only have to agree to pay the set amount to fulfill the contractual arrangement but may also be responsible for covering all legal proceedings cost. Routine payments or outstanding debt of any kind are considered financial obligations, so if someone owes you In finance, an obligation is a financial responsibility where the terms of a contract must be met. Should an obligation between parties fail then the party who is at default may face legal action. In this scenario, the guilty party will not only have to agree to pay the set amount to fulfill the contractual arrangement but may also be responsible for covering all legal proceedings cost. Routine payments or outstanding debt of any kind are considered financial obligations, so if someone owes you Read this Term to the bank.

Vik’s response was an $8 billion counterclaim, alleging that Deutsche made the margin calls in violation of several verbal contracts and that the bank should have stopped the trader who made the risky bets, causing billions of dollars of losses in the market.

Vik’s counterclaim was rejected in November 2013, and Deutsche's claim that Sebastian Holdings failed to pay a 2008 margin call was upheld. Vik was then ordered to pay the amount owed from the call of $243 million, plus costs, amounting to nearly $300 million.

A parallel suit against Vik and Sebastian Holdings is also proceeding in a Connecticut court, after a judge in October denied motions for summary judgment filed by both Vik and Deutsche Bank.