HSBC must wait to July for Madoff lawsuit decision
HSBC will have to wait until the end of July to hear whether or not a $9bn (£5.63bn) lawsuit accusing the bank of enabling the massive fraud will go ahead.
Lawyers for the bank argued in Manhattan federal court on Thursday evening that the law did not allow trustee Irving Picard – trying to recover money for former Madoff customers – to bring the case of financial fraud and misconduct against HSBC. The bank has denied the allegations.
“I am going to spend a lot of time re-reading the papers,” U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said at the end of oral arguments. “I will commit to a written decision by the end of July.”
In all, the judge will be making decisions on challenges to five lawsuits filed by the trustee against banks amounting to nearly $100 billion.