The international legal battle between JPMorgan Chase, Greek fintech Viva Wallet and its tech firm-majority shareholder Werealize is being whittled down in U.K. court, the bank said this week.
The U.S.’s largest bank filed two €917 million lawsuits in January – one in the U.K. and one in Greece – to recoup investment losses related to its 48.5% stake in Viva. WRL owns the other 51.5%.
The bank withdrew its claims against WRL, which alleged that WRL breached its shareholder agreement with JPMorgan by allowing Viva to take certain business actions without obtaining JPMorgan’s consent. The claims were specific to the U.K. lawsuit.
The lender did not withdraw its claims against Viva Wallet CEO Haris Karonis and three directors of the company, however, which alleged they deprived JPMorgan of “the value of its investment in Viva” through illegal actions starting in March 2022.
JPMorgan had invested roughly $1 billion in Viva in January 2022, which at the time was worth around $2 billion.
“We haven’t withdrawn our damages claim for €917m [$1.027 billion] and we do not have any intention to,” a bank spokesperson said in an email to Banking Dive. “We are however happy that WRL is no longer seeking to breach certain aspects of the contractual agreement between us and this has allowed us to narrow other issues in dispute.”
A WRL spokesperson told Banking Dive that the company “welcome[s] JPMorgan’s intention to completely and absolutely discontinue its entire January claim against WRL in the English Court,” and said the claims were “just the latest move in JPMorgan’s campaign of ‘lawfare’ against WRL, as it attempts to use its size and power to drive down the value of Viva and bury WRL – its business partner – in unnecessary legal fees.”
The WRL spokesperson characterized JPMorgan’s withdrawal as a “full-scale retreat,” despite the bank’s assertion it has “no intention” to withdraw its broader damages claim.
The legal saga between the parties – which started in February 2024, when Karonis sued JPMorgan for allegedly impeding Viva’s growth, including allegedly blocking expansion into the U.S. and pursuing hostile litigation – will continue on in both the U.K. and Greece.
“Meanwhile, WRL remains focused on delivering on our commitments, upholding our contractual obligations and defending Viva’s future,” a WRL spokesperson said.
