Mohamad Chatah

And the New York State Supreme Court ruling is….

On August 4 this blog pointed to an interesting case before the New York State Supreme Court. Justice Ellen Coin who had been assigned the case has now ruled against the plaintiff (Mr. Adnan Abu-Ayash of the now defunct Al-Madina Bank) and in favor of the defendants (eight major international banks with branches in New York).


Her ruling means that the international banks in question will not be forced to dig into their worldwide records and archives to provide information and documents relating to the financial transactions of Ms. Rana Qleilat, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

Given the generalized nature of the Supreme Court ruling, all international banks with branches in the state of New York can now breathe a sigh of relief. And so can many who dreaded the nightmare of the murky Madina Bank world being pried open. But many more will be disappointed for the very same reason.