Swiss banks facing apartheid lawsuit

SWITZERLAND’S biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, are understood to be facing a lawsuit in a US court over their dealings with South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Credit Suisse and UBS claim not to have received notice of the suit. They said there was no legal basis for the claims. US lawyer Ed Fagan, acting for victims of the apartheid government is poised to file a claim of about 80 billion Swiss francs (34.7 billion) in a Manhattan court today . It is thought the case is built on the fact that international sanctions existed against South Africa in 1985 and 1993, but Swiss banks still had dealings with the apartheid regime. Spokesmen for both banks strongly refuted the claims that they may be forced to pay compensation.