Drew & Napier engages litigation funder Omni Bridgeway for suit on Credit Suisse AT1 write-down 

LAW firm Drew & Napier has engaged litigation financing company, Omni Bridgeway, to fund its claims against Switzerland related to the forced write-down of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds in March 2023.

The firm is leading an action against the Swiss government, to recover investors’ losses from the write-down arising from UBS’ takeover of Credit Suisse.

The action is based on various bilateral investment treaties that Switzerland has entered into with countries across Asia. These treaties obligate Switzerland to protect investor’s rights and ensure that investors are treated fairly and equitably, the firm said.

In addition to the investor-state action, the law firm also filed a claim in May 2023 in the Swiss courts on behalf of investors to challenge Switzerland’s banking regulator over its decision to write down the AT1 bonds.

The team is now representing more than 300 investors with an aggregate claim of over US$200 million from countries around Asia and elsewhere in the investor-state claim.

Omni Bridgeway is also supporting the Drew & Napier team’s efforts to continue to raise interest and register additional claimants.

The litigation funder has raised interest from over 100 investors with an aggregate claim of between US$60 million to 70 million, and this group of investors will join the larger group led by Drew & Napier, the firm said.

Drew & Napier is looking to complete the onboarding process for the investor-state action by the end of June 2024 at the latest, and to commence its claim against the Swiss government shortly thereafter, it said.

In March 2023, the Swiss government announced that US$17 billion of Credit Suisse perpetual bonds would be written off as part of UBS’ takeover of the bank.

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This meant that bondholders, who were traditionally prioritised over shareholders, would not get anything back on their investments.