Middle Eastern law firm Al Tamimi & Co is serving as the legal adviser to Kuwait’s Global Investment House (GIH) in its successful lawsuit against the National Bank of Umm Al Qawain (NBQ).
Earlier this month, the Dubai Court of Appeals forced Abu Dhabi-listed NBQ to return $250 million in addition to interest and fees to Global, ending a long-running legal battle between the two financial entities. The $250 million in question was a deposit placed by Global with NBQ in August 2008 for a National Bank convertible bond issue.
However, as financial markets slumped in late 2008 and the Kuwaiti firm encountered debt problems which forced it into a restructuring, Global cancelled the planned purchase and wanted the money back. But NBQ said it was entitled to keep it, saying the sum an advanced payment for a total of 2.3 billion dirhams ($626 million) owed for a convertible bond issuance.
The Court also rejected the case filed by NBQ against Global that asked for enforcement of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties, valued at 2.3 billion dirhams which would have resulted in Global being positioned to take a 20 percent stake in the bank.
“This is a tremendous win for GIH. It is an honour for our team to have worked on a case of this magnitude. We are dealing with a considerable sum of money here, the recovery of which will not only strengthen GIH’s financial position in the markets, but will also have a ripple effect throughout the wider finance sector in the region simply because of the substantial judgment amount awarded against a bank,” said Hassan Arab, regional head of litigation at Al Tamimi.
The Al Tamimi team was led by Zafer Sheikh Oghli, partner and head of the firm's Sharjah office. ALB
Shaheen Pasha is Middle East Regional Editor at ALB. Follow her on Twitter: @ALB_TheBrief.
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