UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Citigroup’s arbitration win in Abu Dhabi case withheld

A bid by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to overturn an
arbitration panel’s ruling favouring Citigroup Inc. in a dispute was
rejected by a US federal judge. The dispute was over a USD7.5 billion
investment by the sovereign wealth fund in the bank. The district
Judge George Daniels in Manhattan rejected arguments that the 2011
ruling ignored applicable law, and was termed ‘fundamentally unfair’
because the Abu Dhabi fund was deprived of the chance to properly
present its case.

The Abu Dhabi fund has sought USD4 billion in damages over
what it called Citigroup’s fraudulent representations prior to the
investment in November 2007, which followed billions of dollars in
writedowns at Citigroup linked to subprime mortgages.