Credit Suisse has determined it will fight a 2022 Bermuda court’s $600 million judgment, upheld against them by the Bermuda Court of Appeal last week.

Representatives for the successful party, billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, said in a post-judgment statement that it was time for Credit Suisse to take responsibility for the crimes committed by its personnel, accept the rulings and repay in full the damages awarded by the courts, but the Swiss bank has vowed to continue the battle.

The bank said in a statement on Friday that it "intends to vigorously pursue an appeal to the Privy Council" the news agency Reuters has reported.

Last week, the appeal court ruling largely dismissing Credit Suisse's appeal in the case involving the Swiss bank's Bermuda life insurance unit, Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Limited, and the claim brought by former Georgia prime minister Mr Ivanishvili.

The claim centred around $400 million in losses suffered by two unit-linked life insurance policies, of which Mr Ivanishvili and his family are the ultimate beneficiaries.

Mr Ivanishvili sued the Credit Suisse Group unit in Bermuda for the hundreds of millions of dollars he claimed the bank lost through the fraud, and similarly chased them for hundreds of millions of dollars more in Singapore, claiming court victories in both cases.

Using a translator and testifying via Zoom for the Bermuda court, Mr Ivanishvili told Chief Justice Narinder Hargun that it was the worst customer service he had ever experienced.

His money at the bank had been handled by a relationship manager, a rogue employee who later admitted to a list of fraud crimes and eventually committed suicide.

Mr Ivanishvili sued Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Ltd for failing to stop its employee Patrice Lescaudron from losing $400 million of his fortune when, he said, clues about the relationship manager’s crimes had become apparent.

The ruling from Chief Justice Narinder Hargun included a full bill to Credit Suisse of $607.35 million. That is the ruling upheld last week.

But since his decision, Chief Justice Hargun has indicated he will step down from the bench and retire at the end of the year.

Included in other subsequent or related developments, the Singapore court assessed damages against the bank of some $926 million.

The combined Bermuda and Singapore court awards against the bank and in favour of Mr Ivanishvili amounted to more than $1.5 billion.

Also, this month, the troubled Credit Suisse was gobbled up by its Swiss rival UBS in a $3.2 billion deal that came together quickly amid worries that the Credit Suisse legal and other losses would destabilise the banking system.

Mr Ivanishvili’s political path is also interesting.

The 67-year old served as prime minister of Georgia from October 2012 to November 2013 and is the co-founder of the ruling Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia party.

He is the country’s wealthiest man (#153 on Forbes List with estimated worth of $6.4 billion) and is largely credited with being the person behind the scenes calling the shots in the party over the past decade, and, in the Georgian government.

Polls of his country’s citizens suggest they are predominantly for Ukraine in the war, suspicious of Russians and fearful of Russian invasion.

But Ivanishvili is suspected of being pro-Russian. Many believe his influence is what has led to some unexpected and unpopular anti-Western statements from Georgia’s leaders, and sometimes pro-Russian sentiment.

He was born into poverty and is said to have made his fortune in metals and banking during his life in Russia, before cashing out and moving back home.

Veridica, the nearly three-year-old online publication launched by journalists, experts and researchers from Central and Eastern Europe, is just one of several observers that see Georgia’s integration into the European Union threatened by corruption and abuse of power.

The European Commission has laid out 12 recommendations for Georgia as a path towards EU-candidate status. Of those, effective judicial reform appears to be a sticking point.

International reports regularly state that the judiciary in Georgia is a tool of political influence and hinders the country's aspirations to join the EU – or the larger Western, Euro-Atlantic democracies.

An influential “judicial clan” is widely accused of being closely associated with the ruling Georgian Dream and personally with “the shadow leader” of the party, Bidzina Ivanishvili.