Billionaire Alisher Usmanov Files Lawsuit Against UBS Over Unfounded Reports

Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov has filed a lawsuit against UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt due to unsubstantiated transaction reports that triggered an investigation, leading to financial losses and damage to his reputation. Usmanov seeks liability for damages, citing the wrongful use of suspicious transaction reports for prosecution and EU sanctions.

Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov has filed a lawsuit against the bank UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt over what his lawyers said were unsubstantiated reports made about his transactions that triggered an investigation of him.

UBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "We have filed a lawsuit against UBS Europe SE Frankfurt on behalf of Mr Usmanov personally for the court to establish the fundamental facts and the bank’s liability for damages," Peter Gauweiler, a lawyer representing Usmanov, said in a statement on Monday.

"The Frankfurt am Main General Prosecutor’s Office and the Council of the EU have issued numerous erroneous decisions for which UBS is partly responsible, in particular, due to the use of its suspicious transaction reports as an instrument for the purposes of criminal prosecution and EU sanctions policy." Usmanov's lawyers said that UBS's actions had led to financial losses and "enormous damage" to their client's reputation.

"Taking into account the damage to Mr. Usmanov’s reputation and the value of the worldwide assets affected thereby, the effects for UBS may be 'tsunami-like' in nature," Gauweiler said.