Cases & Deals

Depfa Bank defeats lawsuit relating to French law structured swap

Client(s) DEPFA Bank PLC

Jones Day defended Depfa Bank Plc in connection with a lawsuit from SIDRU of Saint-Germain-en-Laye relating to a French law structured swap. The court denied all the claims of the SIDRU of Saint-Germain-en-Laye against Depfa Bank Plc. The court held that the conclusion of an interest rate constitutes a hedging transaction and not a speculative transaction when its purpose is to protect against the evolution of rates and the reduction of the overall cost of a debt, even if such a contract has an inherent random nature and its conclusion may expose one of the parties to unlimited risks.

SIDRU v. Depfa Bank Plc, No. 657 F-D (Court of Cassation)