Frasers tries to drag Morgan Stanley boss into margin call legal fight

Mike Ashley's Frasers Group on Friday confirmed it had asked a New York court to order Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman to hand over evidence for a UK lawsuit against the bank over an almost $1bn margin call covering trades in Hugo Boss.

Frasers launched the suit in 2021, alleging the bank acted “arbitrarily” and “incorrectly” in maintaining the margin call by trying to force the retailer to close options positions it had established in Hugo Boss, losing the company millions as a result.

It is seeking €50m in damages to cover losses incurred when Morgan Stanley imposed the "unnecessary" $995m margin call.

"The London proceedings relate to a disputed margin call made by Morgan Stanley in May 2021 on Saxo Bank, in connection with certain put and call options in Hugo Boss which were ultimately held by Frasers," Frasers said on Friday.

"Saxo sought to pass the margin call through to Frasers. Frasers successfully sought and obtained injunctive relief in June 2021 preventing the banks taking any steps in connection with the margin call."

Frasers is now demanding that a US court compel Gorman, who has run Morgan Stanley since 2010, to testify and produce documents in the case.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com