A judge on Thursday allowed the bosses of French bank BNP Paribas to appeal an earlier decree ordering them to come to Malta to testify in a €1 billion anti-semitism lawsuit filed by a Maltese investment house and its founder, Malta-based businessman Jacob Agam.
Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon had already ordered the chairman and the CEO of the bank to appear in court to testify but they resisted the order, arguing that they could not be forced to come to Malta to testify.
They filed an application in court to appeal the summons and the judge ruled that it would be “better and fairer” if the matter is decided by a Court of Appeal prior to final judgment given the exceptional circumstances of the case.
Malta court to decide on summons for BNP Paribas CEO in Agam €1 billion suit
Court to determine whether chairman and the CEO of BNP Paribas can refuse to comply with summons to give testimony in Malta in €1 billion lawsuit filed by financier Jacob Agam
18 February 2021, 7:56am
by Matthew Agius
A Maltese court is to determine whether the chairman and the CEO of one of the world’s largest banks, BNP Paribas, can refuse to comply with a previous summons issued by it and give testimony in Malta in the €1 billion lawsuit filed by Vertical Group Holding, a Maltese investment house and its founder and chairman, the Malta-based, British-Israeli businessman Jacob Agam.
A judge is expected to rule next week whether the bosses of French bank BNP Paribas can refuse to appear in court in Malta to testify in a €1 billion anti-semitism lawsuit filed by a Maltese investment house and its founder, Malta-based businessman Jacob Agam.
Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon had already ordered the chairman and the CEO of the bank to appear in court to testify, but they resisted the order, arguing that they could not be forced to come to Malta to testify.
Malta-based businessman Jacob Agram
In a sitting scheduled for Thursday next week, the judge is expected to rule whether to enforce his order, issued last August, with the possibility of escalating it to a warrant of arrest if the pair failed to appear.