UBS first bank sued over sub-prime loss
UBS has been sued by over the sale of financial products which collapsed in sub-prime meltdown
HSH Nordbank, one of Germany’s biggest banks, is suing UBS, over $US500m
(£254m) of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) in what lawyers say will
probably be the first of many such cases in Europe.
The Times reports HSH is suing for losses of more than $US200m,
accusing UBS of putting risky American mortgages instead of low-risk assets into
a CDO which it sold to the German bank in 2002.
HSH plans to file a claim against UBS in a court in New York this month.
According to lawyers, similar cases had been brought in the US but none as yet
by a European investor.
One lawyer who specialises in CDOs said that smaller banks ‘might be the next
to have a go at this kind of suit’.