Bank
Deutsche Bank warned client over Citigroup investment, lawyer tells court
Deutsche Bank AG, which is suing a former client for $1.8 million that he failed to pay back after incurring losses on investments tied to Citigroup Inc. shares, had cautioned him about the bets, the German bank's lawyer told a Singapore court today.
Chang Tse Wen, a Taiwanese scientist who invented the Xolair asthma drug, lost money because of his own investment decisions, the lawyer Ang Cheng Hock said in presenting Deutsche Bank's claim for the amount outstanding on Chang's account.
Chang, 62, is seeking $49 million from Deutsche Bank in a countersuit, claiming he was induced to open his first private banking account in August 2007, according to his lawyer Muralidharan Pillai. The bank was negligent in its advice and made fraudulent misrepresentations, Chang claimed.
The scientist "entrusted his first ever windfall of monetary wealth" to the bank which had promised tailor-made financial advice, Pillai said in the counterclaim. Chang received $118 million in 2007 after Genentech Inc. acquired Tanox Inc., the company he founded, for $919 million.
"If I had known that I would not receive the type or level of service I was promised by Deutsche Bank, I would not have opened an account with them," Chang said in a statement today.
Kathryn Hanes, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, said the allegations made by Chang are without merit.
"The bank conducted itself properly throughout its relationship with the customer and acted entirely in accordance with its rights," she said today.
Chang told the bank that he had neither the experience nor time to manage investments and considered himself a conservative investor, according to his lawyer.
The former client was a "sophisticated man" who ignored the advice of his banker to diversify his investments from a product which committed him to buying shares of Citigroup at a set price for a specified period, according to Ang’s opening statement.
"If I had known that I would not receive the type or level of service I was promised by Deutsche Bank, I would not have opened an account with them," Chang said in a statement today.
Kathryn Hanes, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, said the allegations made by Chang are without merit.
"The bank conducted itself properly throughout its relationship with the customer and acted entirely in accordance with its rights," she said today.
Chang told the bank that he had neither the experience nor time to manage investments and considered himself a conservative investor, according to his lawyer.
The former client was a "sophisticated man" who ignored the advice of his banker to diversify his investments from a product which committed him to buying shares of Citigroup at a set price for a specified period, according to Ang's opening statement.
(Published by Bloomberg – October 26, 2010)