JP Morgan has filed lawsuits in Greece and the UK relating to Viva Wallet, an Athens-based neobank it holds a substantial stake in.
According to Bloomberg, the company is taking legal action against its partner in the Viva Wallet joint venture, holding company Werealize.com Ltd, which owns a 51.5% stake in Viva while JP Morgan owns the rest.
The leading US bank reportedly claims that Werealize breached its JV shareholder agreement by allowing Viva to embark on certain business actions without JPMorgan’s consent.
JP Morgan is also taking legal action against VIVA CEO, Greek tech entrepreneur Haris Karonis, and three other members of the Viva Wallet group board.
The bank argues that Karonis and Werealise have removed its right to buyout the remaining shares in Viva – undermining the value of its 2022 investment in the company.
A JPMorgan spokesperson is quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “We are disappointed that since the firm’s investment in 2022, WRL has repeatedly and persistently sought to undermine JPMorgan’s rights by breaching the agreement that formed the basis of the firm’s investment.
“We now look to the courts to enforce the contract terms agreed upon between us.”
The UK suit relates to Werealise while the Greek suit relates to Karonis. Both argue, as outlined above, that the company and individual have violated their respective JV shareholder commitments.
Alongside other challenger/enobanks like Monzo and Revolut, Viva Wallet has been able to ride the wave of success enjoyed by emerging new financial institutions in recent years, though its origins date back to 2000.
The company is active in 24 different European countries and its growth has been enabled not just by financial backing from JP Morgan – the world’s fifth largest bank – but also by embarking on pan-European partnerships with other payments and fintech companies.
Responding to JP Morgan’s claims, Karonis told Bloomberg: “In response to several legal actions already taken against JPM throughout 2024, JPM yesterday served proceedings against certain Viva’s board of directors,”
“These proceedings are simply the latest step in JPM’s concerted effort to depreciate Viva’s value, to preclude it from expanding in the US and elsewhere, and intimidate its directors restricting their freedom of action.”
