Swiss Bank Syz and Co Repays Some Customers' Madoff Losses

Swiss Bank Repays Some Customers' Madoff Losses
Caroline Waxler | Jan 9, 2009 2:21 PM

From a Swiss paper, Le Temps, handily translated using Google Translate, comes news that someone is doing the right thing for its customers. Think Fairfield Greenwich will follow suit?

In this case it's the privately-held Swiss bank Syz & Co., which through the Thema International Fund, put ten of millions of dollars with Madoff. The $1.1 billion asset (as of Nov. 28) Dublin-based Thema fund, is managed by Bank Medici, by the way, which might sound familiar to you. Earlier this week the Medici founder Sonja Kohn disappeared; Medici may have lost as much as $3.2 billion. Thema was one of the biggest ways that Europeans got in with Madoff. It seems like Thema had all of it's money with Madoff, though that's unclear from what we've been reading. (Anybody know? Email cwaxler@alleyinsider or comment)

Le Temps (With a slightly uneven translation by Google): In recent days, the bank has informed some of these customers, for which it has itself taken the initiative to invest in Thema, it would reimburse the full, according to a client of this unit. "My manager informed me by telephone that he would reimburse me my initial investment, like all other customers in the same situation," she told the Times. "I appreciate this initiative, she added. They s'évitent and legal inconvenience, and maintain their credibility by showing that, when making a mistake, they pay. "This client had also invested with Aurelia Finance, which also provided its customers with funds Madoff (Hermes, them), but has for the time being, not consented to the side of rembourser.Du Syz, the spokesman replied that there was no "firm decision to reimburse investors ", and refused to comment on a" special case ". He confirmed that the private bank Syz had invested in funds Madoff, but added that the total of these investments involves "limited amounts".

Hmm, wonder who the special case was who talked? We would say oligarch but an oligarch would never speak to the press.

And, what about those fees?