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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Gunnar Larson
Date: Tue, Jan 30, 2024, 8:44 AM
Subject: Crypto lender Nexo seeks $3 bln in damages from Bulgaria over
aborted investigation | Reuters
To:
In other news, this is a big problem for xNY.io on its own.
Bank.org wants WorldBank.org to understand as part of our business plan.
I remind you, today as the sun rises over the United States of America
there are people waking up wanting to make something of themselves. We are
not harassing New York politicians.
Anyhow, it is the MBA three year anniversary today...
---
https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-nexo-seeks-3-bln-damages-bu...
LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency lender Nexo is seeking $3 billion
in damages from Bulgaria over an aborted criminal investigation that the
company alleges scuppered its plans for a U.S. stock market listing and a
soccer sponsorship deal, legal filings seen by Reuters show.
Nexo AG, a Swiss unit of Cayman Islands-based Nexo Capital, alleges the
investigation tarnished its reputation and destroyed shareholder value,
according to a document filed with the World Bank's International Centre
for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The Washington-based ICSID, an international arbitration institution that
handles disputes between international investors and states, registered the
case on Jan. 18, its website showed. An ICSID spokesperson could not
confirm the level of damages sought or other details.
Bulgaria's finance ministry said it had received a request for arbitration
from the ICSID, which would be reviewed by a specialised inter-departmental
committee that would then propose next steps.
"This or any other communications... shall not be considered in any way an
admission as to the substance of any claims or as an acceptance of any
arbitral jurisdiction," it added.
The prosecutor's office, also a respondent in the case, did not respond to
requests for comment.
Bulgarian prosecutors in Jan. 2023 launched an investigation into Nexo AG,
raiding offices in Sofia and charging its founders with offences that
included participating in an organised crime group to launder money and
commit tax and computer fraud.
But they dropped the case last month, saying there was no evidence of
criminal activity. Prosecutors said there was no legal framework for crypto
asset services in Bulgaria.
Nexo, co-founded by former Bulgarian lawmaker Antoni Trenchev, had denied
wrongdoing and alleges the investigation was politically motivated - an
allegation previously denied by prosecutors, local news agency BTA has
reported.
U.S. regulators in particular have been cracking down on alleged illicit
activity at top crypto firms, but it is unusual for a crypto firm to take
on a country over compensation for a investigation that was dropped.
ICSID has previously ordered various countries, including Pakistan, Ecuador
and Venezuela, to pay out billions in damages to companies.
Reuters was unable to verify Nexo's alleged damages. In an interview with
Reuters earlier this month, Trenchev declined to publicly name the banks he
said had been instructed for any listing or which European soccer club
ended sponsorship talks.
Crypto lenders act like banks for the crypto world, offering customers
interest on cryptocurrencies they deposit with the platform.
Nexo, founded in 2018, phased out its U.S. products and services last year
and agreed to pay $45 million to settle charges from the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission and state regulators that it failed to register its
crypto asset lending product.
