Sandy hopes for reprieve in New York

Simmons & Simmons lawyer David Sandy is hoping a New York judge will strike out charges he faces in relation to Bank of Credit and Commerce International which collapsed in 1991.

Sandy is accused by the New York District Attorney of three charges relating to alleged suppression of the diary of former BCCI chief executive Zafar Iqbal regarding the failure of the bank. He is represented in the US by John Wing, of Weil Gotshal & Manges.

A motion to drop the charges will be heard by the New York State Court on 14 June.

The case originally came to court a year ago in New York when Sandy was released on bail. The proceedings led to Simmons & Simmons resigning its four-year role as adviser to the BCCI majority shareholders in Abu Dhabi and handing the work over to City firm Macfarlanes.

Last year, Sandy was extradited to New York where he faced an indictment from the District Attorney who is investigating the circumstances surrounding BCCI's collapse.

Weil Gotshal has described the action as a "most unprecedented prosecution, both on jurisdictional grounds and on the grounds of legal theory".