Mozambican jurists say that the fact that the Credit Suisse bank was bought by the UBS group will not have any implications for the lawsuit that the Mozambican government has filed against that institution, in the context of hidden debts, because whoever buys the active part also inherits the passive part of the bank.
Even so, they doubt that the case will be judged because the Mozambican State is not cooperating with the London court.
Around four years ago, the Mozambican Attorney General’s Office (PGR) filed a lawsuit in the Commercial Court in London against Credit Suisse, which was seen as the main creditor of the hidden debts, a fault that the bank took on when it decided to pay a fine to the United States and the United Kingdom, which also sued Credit Suisse.
Meanwhile, the Swiss bank has been bought by UBS and the question that arises is what implications this may have for the lawsuit Mozambique has filed against the bank.
The lawyer and researcher from the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), Baltazar Fael, quoted by the Voice of America (VOA), said on Monday 27 March that he had no implications. However, he said that the process is not moving forward because the Commercial Court in London asked the OPG for documents, but the OPG is not sharing the requested documentation “and, probably, the judge will stop judging that process.
“The OPG says it is unable to notify the President of the Republic who is one of the people who should answer questions that were asked by the London court and the head of state should be heard here in Maputo and not in London,” he said.
The lawyer Egídio Plácido also believes that nothing changes with the sale of Credit Suisse because UBS inherited both the assets and liabilities of the bank.
Plácido referred to the case filed by the Attorney General’s Office against Credit Suisse saying that it was not moving forward because “some people from the Mozambican state do not want to hand over the documents requested by the London court, alleging issues of sovereignty and security, but in truth, what they want is to avoid compromising some people.
It should be noted that, at the beginning of this month, a British judge admitted annulling the hidden debts case underway in the Commercial Court, which is part of the High Court in London, due to Mozambique’s failure to share relevant documents in preparation for the trial in October.
Judge Robin Knowles criticised the lack of involvement of British lawyers representing the Republic of Mozambique in the process of selecting official documents and urged the Mozambican Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to provide greater access to them.
Diário Económico
