Six Taiwan banks sue Nomura units over loan deal with shoemaker Ultrasonic

Taiwan Business Bank

06/06/2016 11:44

TAIPEI, June 6 (Reuters) - Six Taiwanese banks said on 
Monday they have filed a lawsuit in Taiwan against subsidiaries 
of Nomura Holdings Inc  8604.T , accusing the Japanese bank of 
not extending its portion of a syndicated loan to now-insolvent 
shoemaker Ultrasonic AG  US5.F . 
    The Taiwanese banks said in a joint statement that Nomura 
Special Investments Singapore Pte Ltd did not extend a $9 
million loan to Ultrasonic, as stipulated in a 2014 syndication 
agreement initiated by Nomura International (Hong Kong) Ltd. 
    The six Taiwanese banks are Cathay Financial Holding Co Ltd 
 2882.TW  subsidiary Cathay United Bank, Chang Hwa Commercial 
Bank Ltd  2801.TW , Taiwan Business Bank  2834.TW , Taiwan 
Cooperative Bank  TWCOFB.UL , Hwatai Bank and KGI Bank. 
    "We six banks have jointly hired legal representation to 
file a suit against Nomura for its misconduct, and submitted 
evidence obtained to the judiciary authorities," the banks said 
in the statement. 
    Nomura's head of public relations in Hong Kong, Aaron Pan, 
said in a statement to Reuters: "We are aware of the press 
release and local media coverage in Taiwan that mentions Nomura. 
However, we can confirm that we have not yet received any formal 
notice of litigation and therefore cannot comment further at 
this stage." 
    Officials at Ultrasonic could not be reached for comment. 
    Frankfurt-listed Ultrasonic said in March last year that 
negotiations with creditor banks had collapsed and that, as a 
consequence, it had to file for insolvency. 
    A year earlier, Ultrasonic said executives and most of its 
cash reserves in China and Hong Kong had disappeared. 
 
 (Reporting by Faith Hung in TAIPEI and Emi Emoto in TOKYO; 
Editing by Christopher Cushing) 
 ((faith.hung@thomsonreuters.com; 8862 2500 4893; Reuters 
Messaging: faith.hung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: TAIWAN BANKS/NOMURA HLDGS LAWSUIT