Deutsche Bank Seeks Dismissal Of Yukos' Chapter 11 Protections

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

03 January 2005

Deutsche Bank last week revealed that it has filed a motion with Houston's federal court seeking to dismiss the bankruptcy protection claim made there by beleaguered Russian oil firm, Yukos.

In a move condemned by the international community and Kremlin insiders alike, the auction of Yukos's Yuganskneftegaz unit went ahead, despite the fact that it had filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States.

Following a series of buyouts and mergers, it has emerged that the unit has been effectively renationalised - exactly the outcome that the Houston court sought to prevent when it ordered state-owned Gazprom to withdraw from the auction proceedings.

Despite the seeming resolution of the matter, however, Deutsche Bank remains keen to dismantle what it sees as the artificial protections sought by Yukos in the US.

Taking issue with the oil firm's establishment of jurisdiction in Houston on the grounds that it had a bank account there, and that its chief financial officer, Bruce Misamore had recently moved to the state, Deutsche Bank announced in court filings that:

"This blatant attempt to artificially manufacture a basis for jurisdiction constitutes cause to dismiss this case."

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