Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui’s US$500 million lawsuit in London against UBS can proceed
- Guo sued the investment bank last year over a 2015 margin call following a decline in Haitong Securities shares
- Chinese tycoon previously sued UBS in New York over the margin call
A judge in London has ruled that a US$500 million lawsuit by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui against UBS over a 2015 margin call can proceed in Britain.
The Swiss investment bank had sought to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds, but High Court Justice Sara Cockerill ruled on Wednesday that the lawsuit can continue.
“UBS was a critical part of the deal structure,” Justice Cockerill wrote in the ruling. “The misstatements relied upon were made about UBS London’s policies. The claim resides in a disconnect between what he was told about the policies and intentions of the London branch were and what those policies actually were.”
Guo fled China in 2014, settling in the United States in 2017, after his battles with Beijing over his businesses and political activism. He faces prosecution in his native China on allegations of fraud and money laundering.
He claims his investment in Haitong was essentially wiped out after UBS forced him to sell the stock amid a market decline of Haitong’s shares in Hong Kong in 2015.
