The Milan Court of Appeal has accepted the appeal of China Construction Bank Asia Corporation (CCBA), deciding to recognize the judgment of the Hong Kong Court related to the lawsuit for €320 million unpaid by Steven Zhang, president of Inter Milan. In recent months, the bank had initiated procedures to enforce the judgment in Italy, particularly by requesting recognition of the judgment in our country.
Calcio e Fiannza now report that a lawsuit before the Court of Appeal initiated in April 2023 whose judgment was officially deposited in recent days and which saw the judges rule in favor of Zhang’s creditors. In particular, the judgment states that the amount to be repaid is $255 million plus interest of $2.6 million until August 2, 2021, and then annual interest of 13% on the $255 million from August 3, 2021, until the date of payment (about $30 million annually), based on what was explained by the Hong Kong Court in the judgment of July 2022, finalized in September 2022.
Zhang’s defence tried to focus on the “gross anomalies” of the Hong Kong judgment, as well as several issues on which exceptions were raised; however, the Court of Appeal did not accept any of the arguments put forward by the defence . In particular, for example, regarding the territorial jurisdiction of the same Court of Appeal, the judges explained that Zhang’s creditors have not currently “indicated neither which assets of the defendant they intend to attack, nor where, in theory, said assets are located, but it is also true that the presence of the same in the territory of the Milan Court can be inferred from the role and position” of Zhang himself, namely president of Inter Milan (the club remains serene about the matter). “This circumstance, which obviously implies ownership of the relevant shareholdings, appears sufficient to consider the action proposed by the creditors correctly rooted in this judicial authority.”
“Therefore, all the prerequisites of Article 64 L. 218/95 […], the request must be granted. Legal costs, calculated using the criteria of the lawsuit of indeterminate low complexity value and excluding the investigative phase, which did not take place, must be borne by the defendant,” concludes the Court of Appeal, indicating costs totaling €6,946 plus lump-sum expenses (15%), VAT, and CPA.
Meanwhile, in Milan, the other procedure initiated by China Construction Bank against Zhang is also nearing conclusion, namely the one in which the annulment of the resolution by which the assembly of Inter Milan shareholders in 2018 approved the composition of the Board of Directors is requested, emphasizing that Zhang is not entitled to any remuneration as president. Inter Milan, in the fine print of the financial statements as of June 30, 2023, explained: “Based on the available information, the Company believes it has valid reasons to obtain the rejection of the counterparty’s claims.” The next hearing at the Milan Ordinary Court is scheduled for April 10, 2024, and the judgment may also be delivered then.
