Tether, the world’s largest issuer of stablecoins, made a deposit exceeding $1 billion with a subsidiary of Britannia Financial Group, which is now the center of a legal battle in London’s High Court.
Central to the dispute lies a disagreement between Britannia Financial and Arbitral International regarding the sale of a Bahamas brokerage in June 2021.
A recent report published by the Financial Times has uncovered a legal dispute in London involving over $1 billion in deposits made by Tether, a prominent stablecoin issuer, with a financial services firm.
According to court filings, Tether initiated the deposit in November 2021 through a subsidiary of Britannia Financial.
Tether’s deposit is under scrutiny due to its involvement in a dispute between Britannia Financial and Arbitral International, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Arbitral alleges that Britannia Financial failed to complete payment for a Bahamas brokerage sold in June 2021.
The dispute centers around an agreement that specified additional payments by Britannia Financial based on post-sale revenue, including from clients referred by Arbitral. However, Britannia Financial contradicts this assertion by stating that Tether deposited funds with its London subsidiary, Britannia Global Markets.
Britannia Financial was introduced to Tether by Aldo Mazzella, a professional introducer with a longstanding commercial relationship since around 2017. However, Arbitral suggests that an executive at its former Bahamas brokerage was also involved.
Tether initially considered the Bahamas for its deposit location in its court filing but ultimately chose the UK.
Tether has faced its share of regulatory scrutiny. In 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that the company made misleading claims about having sufficient dollars to back each of its circulating stablecoins.
The New York attorney general also investigated Tether for allegedly hiding significant losses, stating that the company lacked access to banks worldwide from mid-2017. Tether settled both investigations without admitting liability.
This legal dispute comes at a time when London seeks to establish itself as a cryptocurrency industry hub, with regulators recently proposing the potential use of stablecoins for payments in the UK.
Additionally, reports indicate that Tether has begun utilizing Britannia Bank & Trust, a Bahamas-based bank owned by Britannia Financial, for processing dollar transfers.