A team on structured finance, led by that section’s head James Harbach, advised Europrop and Citibank on a €486m issue of commercial mortgage-backed securities. But a €61m component of the underlying securities, known as the ’Signac Loan’, turned out to have a defect in the way it backed up the loan. It was meant to work in such a way, according to Europrop, that Citibank would later rebuy it. Instead, Citibank refused. 

Duty of watchfulness

One outcome of the wrangling between Europrop and Citibank was that Europrop cited Linklaters, claiming that its lawyers breached ‘their duty of watchfulness in writing and their obligation to achieve a valid and efficient agreement’. The Linklaters claim is due to be decided after the Europrop-Citibank litigation. The next step between Europrop and Citibank is a hearing scheduled for 14 October. Source: Legal Week