Big Four Japanese firm Mori Hamada & Matsumoto has joined forces with litigation funder LCM. This partnership aims to represent Japanese investors who are taking international arbitration proceedings against Switzerland. The investors seek compensation for the $17 billion write-down of Credit Suisse AT-1 bonds last March.
Uniting for Justice - Japanese Investors' Fight for Compensation
Partnership and Investor Gathering
Mori Hamada states that together with LCM, they have assembled a class of only Japanese investors with a claim of approximately $150 million. The basis of this claim lies in the Japan-Switzerland Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA), which offers legal protections to Japanese investors in Switzerland and grants them the right to enforce their rights through arbitration directly against Switzerland, as explained by Mori Hamada lawyers.This agreement provides for disputes to be resolved under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID) Rules or the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Rules.Leading Lawyers and Initial Contact
Leading Mori Hamada on these matters are partners Daniel Allen, an international arbitration specialist with extensive experience in investment treaty-related disputes. Mugi Sekido acts on high-stakes international arbitration and class actions. Atsushi Oishi is the firm's wealth management and tax specialist. First contact from affected investors came through Oishi and Sekido, as Allen told Law.com International."It was evident that Japanese investors had been severely harmed by Switzerland's actions. We formed our current team to explore ways to seek justice for our clients and evaluated several potential avenues of redress," said Mori Hamada partners.Third-Party Funding and Growth
Once the Tokyo-based firm amassed a group of investors with a claim value of approximately $60 million, they arranged for third-party funding with LCM. This funding has given their investor class even more momentum, exceeding $150 million in claim value by November."Third-party funding is playing a crucial role here in enabling Japanese investors to access justice. For the majority of Japanese AT-1 bondholders, pursuing ICSID arbitration out-of-pocket would be prohibitively expensive, especially when considering potential exposure to adverse costs," the firm's partners emphasized.Without a funder shouldering the financial costs and risks, it would be "practically impossible for most Japanese investors to seek compensation for violations of Switzerland's binding commitments under the JSEPA," the firm stated.Mori Hamada believes their investor class will continue to grow and aims to file for proceedings before the end of 2024.Several other law firms have also gathered investor classes to seek compensation over the write-down of Credit Suisse bonds. One such Big Four Singapore firm, Drew & Napier, has secured funding from Omni Bridgeway for its class of 400 global investors seeking compensation of more than $250 million.