Supreme Court Confirms the Validity of Citibank’s Billion-Crown Claims Against OKD
After more than a decade of complex litigation, the Czech Supreme Court has definitively confirmed the validity of Citibank’s claims exceeding CZK 10 billion against OKD, fully upholding the arguments advanced by BBH. The landmark ruling brings a decisive conclusion to a long-running dispute involving complex issues of Czech and Anglo-American law.
For more than 10 years, Citibank, represented by BBH, has been defending its claims against their rejection and challenging the insolvency administrator’s related avoidance action in complex ancillary insolvency proceedings. Having prevailed before both the court of first instance and the appellate court, BBH’s arguments have now also been upheld by the Supreme Court. In its decision published today, the Supreme Court has definitively confirmed that Citibank’s claims exist in their entirety and were duly filed in the insolvency proceedings.
The proceedings addressed numerous complex legal issues involving not only Czech law but also Anglo-American law. Many of the Supreme Court’s conclusions, particularly those concerning the avoidance of legal acts, are likely to have precedential significance. We will provide an annotated analysis of these conclusions in forthcoming editions of our Insolvency Incidents.
Congratulations to the BBH insolvency team, which has represented Citibank from the outset of these lengthy insolvency proceedings and related ancillary litigation, particularly Petr Přecechtěl, Petra Lakuš Borkovcová a Štěpán Liška.