Bank of Baroda shares fall 3% amid clarification on $15 billion lawsuit 

Shares of Bank of Baroda (BOB) fell 3 per cent in Wednesday's trade, even as the PSU bank said it has not been served with any lawsuit. The comment came as BR Shetty, the founder of NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange, reportedly filed a $15 billion suit against the lender, accusing it of colluding with his business group's former executives to siphon off funds that left him facing liabilities on guarantees he said he never signed.

BOB informed stock exchanges that it cannot comment on the contents of pleadings which are untested in court. The stock settled at Rs 235.95 in the pre-market trade, down 0.69 per cent.  As the trading resumed, the scrip fell 3 per cent to Rs 230.45 apiece on BSE by 9.16 am.

"If and when the bank is served, the bank will defend the suit firmly and take all steps necessary to protect its interests. We request you to take note of the above pursuant to SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015 and upload the information on your website," BOB said.

The Economic Times reported the the suit, filed in the Bombay High Court, seeks $5 billion in direct damages for alleged fraud and negligence, $5 billion in consequential damages and $5 billion in compensation for reputational harm arising from various actions taken by the bank, including a lookout circular issued against him. Shetty also sought 18 per cent interest on the first $10 billion. The suit names BoB, several of its current and former officers, former NMC executives, other individuals and companies, as per the ET report.

Business Today cannot verify the report at this point in time.

As per the ET report, Shetty's petition was linked to a case in the UAE that the PSU lender settled in July by paying $600 million or around Rs 5,700 crore to the administrators of the insolvent NMC and its affiliates.

Administrators of the UAE-based healthcare group had accused the bank of facilitating improper transactions in cohort with Shetty, without doing due diligence and following proper anti-money-laundering and customer verification processes.