Rising tension between SCOR and Covéa

On 29 January 2019 SCOR filed a lawsuit against Covéa and his CEO, Thierry Denning. The criminal proceedings before Paris correctional court deals with the offence of "concealment of breach of trust" for Covéa and "breach of trust" for T. Derez. Barclays and Rothschild, Covéa's advisory banks, are being sued before the High Court of Justice in London for "serious breach of the confidentiality and secrecy of SCOR's business".

According to the reinsurer, Thierry Derez who resigned from his position as a director of SCOR on 13 November 2018, was aware of the merger operation between the French reinsurer and the Bermudian PartnerRe in July 2018. The CEO of Covéa would then have diverted this confidential information to serve the interests of his group by submitting an offer to acquire SCOR. Covéa which was willing to pay 8 billion EUR (9 billion USD) for the takeover of SCOR made public its offer on September 4, 2018. As a reminder, Covéa is the first shareholder of SCOR with 8.2% of shares.

According to the Penal Code, Thierry Derez faces a sentence of three years ' imprisonment and a fine of 375 000 EUR (425 600 USD). In order to get compensated for the damages it allegedly suffered, SCOR claims 300 000 EUR (340 500 USD) and 600 000 EUR (781 000 USD) from respectively Thierry Derez and Covéa.

For the banks Barclays and Rothschild, substantial damages are claimed by SCOR.