UBS subsidiary Credit Suisse is the target of various class action lawsuits in the US. Now, a namesake of bank chairman Colm Kelleher is calling the Swiss bank to account.

Dennis Kelleher doesn’t speak well of Credit Suisse. The head of Better Markets, a non-profit organization in the US that works to protect investors, just filed a legal notice of a class action lawsuit against the bank, former board members, including ex-vice chairman Richard Thornburgh, and the auditing firm KPMG.

The letter was sent to New York’s Southern District Court, which played a prominent role in the tax dispute with the US. Better Markets counters Credit Suisse’s reported demands the court dismiss the class action. Kelleher and the investor protection organization are determined to prevent this from happening.

Billions in Provisions

The shareholders harmed by Credit Suisse have a right to bring their claims in a US court and under US law, Kelleher commented.

The statement may also end up in the daily press clippings of namesake Colm Kelleher (pictured below), chairman of UBS. For the Swiss bank, the numerous lawsuits against Credit Suisse are a weight it had to take on when it was forced to take over the institution in March. UBS already set aside $4 billion in additional provisions for legal risks to deal with Credit Suisse’s beleaguered past.

(Image: UBS)

Force to be Reckoned With

The claims of the «other» Kelleher are to be taken quite seriously. A Harvard graduate and lawyer, Kelleher is aligned with US Democrats, having served as a senior staff member in the Senate and supported President Joe Biden when he took office—the New York Times called Kelleher a banking scaremonger and one of the most potent lobbyists for financial industry reform.

UBS Kelleher may have heard about the Better Markets Kelleher during his Wall Street days at Morgan Stanley.