The legal battle over metal financing deals between Citigroup Inc. C and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd took a new turn. On Friday, the High Court in London ruled that Citigroup is not entitled to claim $270 million payment from Cyprus-based commodities trader Mercuria Energy for the metals held at two scam-tainted Chinese ports.
Per High Court Judge Stephen Philips, "Citi's tender of endorsed warehouse receipts was not good delivery of metal to Mercuria. Citi is therefore not entitled to judgment for the unpaid price of that metal."
Citigroup will continue to take necessary steps. According to the company’s statement, "Although the Court ruled Citi is not entitled to repayment now, Citi will vigorously pursue compensation from Mercuria for failure to deliver or safeguard the metal once further facts are established."
In Brief
The case revolves around repurchase deals, or "repo" agreements, between the two parties. According to such deals, traders sell commodities to bank and purchase them back from the bank on a later date at a higher price. Citigroup entered into such contracts wherein it agreed to purchase metals from Mercuria Energy. Precisely, the deals enabled Mercuria Energy to avail loan from Citigroup using the metals as collateral.
As part of the deal inked in May 2013, stocks of copper and aluminum were stored at two Chinese ports – Qingdao and Penglai. After a year, potential frauds at these two ports were unearthed and investigations by Chinese authorities are underway. The authorities are examining whether Decheng Mining, a private metals trading firm, pledged the same stocks of metals held at these ports multiple times as collateral for loans.
The imposition of lockdown of these ports by the Chinese authorities has restricted banks and traders including Citigroup, Mercuria from accessing the materials stored in the ports.
As Citigroup demanded early repayment of $270 million for the repurchase deals, Mercuria Energy initiated legal proceedings in Jun 2014. The bank claimed that it had the right to demand early repayment following the closure of the ports. Also, the bank stated handing over the warehouse receipts to Mercuria Energy in late July, confirming delivery of metals held in the Qingdao and Penglai ports.
Contesting such claims, Mercuria Energy earlier argued that handing over of the warehouse receipts does not amount to delivery of the metal, particularly given the fact that there is ambiguity over the existence of the concerned metals.
In the latest ruling, Justice Philips recognized Citigroup’s rights to demand early repayment and terminate the agreements.
Notably, Citigroup and Mercuria Energy are not accused of fraud.
In recent years, many companies and investors in China have resorted to several alternative sources of securing loans including commodities financing deals, instead of traditional bank lending transactions. These have led to infusion of huge amount of capital in China.
Many Western banks provided heavy financing to commodity traders operating in China through repo deals. These deals are considered to be low risk as they are backed by physical stocks of metals. However, the discovery of the alleged fraud in the two ports has compelled banks to pull back their commodities-related lending activities in China.
Bottom-line
Litigation hassles seem to be never ending for Citigroup. However, we remain encouraged as the company is making gradual efforts in resolving issues including settlements with regulators and offloading questionable trading operations.
While nothing can be concluded with certainty regarding the ongoing legal tussle between Citigroup and Mercuria Energy, we look forward to the future course of action by the New York-based banking giant.
Currently, Citigroup carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better ranked-ranked stocks in the finance space include Northern Trust Corporation NTRS, Central Valley Community Bancorp CVCY and HomeStreet, Inc. HMST. Both Central Valley and HomeStreet sport a Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy), while Northern Trust carries a Zacks Rank# 2 (Buy).
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