A court in Dubai has ordered the winding up of the bank to be forcibly liquidated due to debts owed to a Kuwaiti family with which it has been locked in a dispute about investments.

A Dubai court has ordered that Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME) Limited, a joint venture between Switzerland’s Bank Sarasin and Alpen Corp, is to be wound up, adding another twist to a long-running tale of the venture’s dispute with a wealthy Kuwaiti family.

DIFC [Dubai International Financial Centre] Courts ordered that “Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME) Limited registered in the DIFC under registration number 0029, with a registered office at Precinct Building 5, Level 4, DIFC, P.O.Box 121806, Dubai is wound up under the DIFC Insolvency Law No 3 of 2009”.

A check on the DIFC website shows that Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME)’s registration is “inactive”. 

The entity’s debts stem from the Al Khorafi family’s claims against it over investment products that ended in heavy losses, a situation likely to be embarrassing for Dubai as a financial centre, so this publication has been told.

In November last year, Bank Sarasin-Alpen was ordered to refund losses sustained by the family from the sale of inappropriately structured property, commodity-backed and equity sector products in late 2007 and early 2008, media reports have said.

.When asked by this publication for clarification, Bank J Safra Sarasin, said: "This company ceased its operations in 2014 and is no longer owned by Bank J Safra Sarasin. Bank J Safra Sarasin has always complied with all its obligations under the decisions of the DIFC court."

According to the text of the DIFC Courts ruling, on 7 February 2016, a petition to wind up the bank was made, stating that the bank has a debt of more than $35 million. That sum forms part of litigation going back to a 2009 case brought by the petitioners against the bank regarding a number of investments. In the “Quantum Order”, as an order by Deputy Chief Justice Sir John Chadwick was described, Bank Sarasin and Bank Sarasin-Alpen were ordered jointly and severally to pay further damages of $24.585 million. Also mentioned is the $35 million-plus amount ordered against Bank Sarasin-Alpen.

“The Respondent was found guilty of mis-selling the investments to the Petitioners and the Respondent’s appeal of the Liability Judgment was recently dismissed by the Court of Appeal in a Judgment dated 3 March 2016,” the court said.