French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) have signed a confidential agreement to settle a legal dispute regarding a case focused on five trades totaling $2.1 billion, executed between 2007 and 2009.
“Societe Generale and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) jointly announce that they have signed a confidential settlement agreement that resolves all matters between both parties concerning five financial transactions entered into between 2007 and 2009 that have been the subject of legal action in the English High Court,” SocGen said in a statement.
“Societe Generale wishes to place on record its regret about the lack of caution of some of its employees. Societe Generale apologizes to the LIA and hopes that the challenges faced at this difficult time in Libya’s development are soon overcome,” added the French bank.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) had been pursuing SocGen over those five trades, that took place before Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was ousted as Libyan leader.
The LIA had claimed the trades were secured as part of a “fraudulent and corrupt scheme” involving the payment of $58.5 million by SocGen to a Panamanian-registered company called Lenaida, controlled at the time by Libyan businessman Walid Giahmi. Lenaida was dissolved in 2010.
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Credit: Reuters