Credit Suisse ordered to pay $926mn to former prime minister of Georgia

Credit Suisse has been ordered by a Singaporean judge to pay $926mn to former Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a final blow to the bank just weeks before UBS is expected to complete its takeover.

Billionaire Ivanishvili, who is Georgia’s richest man, had already won a case against the Swiss bank in Bermuda last year, where he was awarded $607.5mn.

Ivanishvili’s dispute with Credit Suisse dates back to 2011 when he was a client and victim of a private banker who defrauded some of the Swiss lender’s most sensitive accounts.

Credit Suisse, which has been embroiled in several lawsuits in recent years, is being taken over by UBS as part of a state-orchestrated rescue. The deal could close in the coming days.