According to legal firm Pomerantz LLP, a group of people and businesses has launched a class action lawsuit against Credit Suisse, alleging that the Swiss bank misled investors over business dealings with Russian billionaires.

Credit Suisse made no comments on the matter, according to reports.

According to Pomerantz, the complaint was filed in a New York district court on behalf of people and businesses who purchased Credit Suisse securities between March 19, 2021 and March 25, 2022.

“The complaint alleges that, throughout the class period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the company’s business, operations, and compliance policies,” Pomerantz said in the statement.

The legal firm said there were discrepancies in the disclosure of a securitisation arrangement. Credit Suisse had securitized a portfolio of loans connected to its wealthiest customers’ yachts and private aircraft, according to a Financial Times piece from February, in an unique use of derivatives to offload the risks associated with lending to ultra-rich oligarchs and entrepreneurs.

According to the Financial Times, Credit Suisse said in a statement following the publication of its article that the transaction “priced in line with other significant risk transactions, offered competitive investment and hedging terms for our professional investor clients while increasing the bank’s capital flexibility.”

The lawsuit also mentioned a request by US senators in March for Credit Suisse to turn over data linked to the financing of yachts and private jets held by people who could be sanctioned.

In response to another Financial Times revelation about oligarchs, Credit Suisse claimed on March 3 that no client data had been deleted within the bank when it ordered investors to remove papers connected to a transaction last November.

Following the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Credit Suisse declared in an internal document on March 28 that it will no longer pursue new business in Russia, according to sources citing the document.

Credit Suisse, which announced a first-quarter loss this week, has been harmed by a slew of costly hits and legal lawsuits it has referred to as “legacy problems.”

(Adapted from USNews.com)