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Whitney fund dispute moves to New York court

Meredith Whitney: Superstar analyst turned fund manager

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — The biggest investor in Meredith Whitney’s hedge fund moved a lawsuit seeking to recoup its $46 million stake to New York from Bermuda, where it was originally filed last year.

BlueCrest Capital Opportunities Ltd, a fund connected to billionaire Michael Platt’s BlueCrest Capital Management, filed the new complaint against Whitney in state Supreme Court in Manhattan this week. The dispute shows how quickly relations have soured since last year, when Platt helped Whitney, once one of Wall Street’s most famous analysts, start her new firm, Kenbelle Capital. The BlueCrest fund invested $50 million in the American Revival Fund, then asked for its money back in October 2014, expecting payment around the end of the following month, according to the New York suit.

“Not only have defendants damaged BlueCrest by improperly refusing to redeem BlueCrest’s shares at the redemption amount, Ms Whitney continues to invest and trade the fund’s assets — including the redemption amount — in an underperforming portfolio,” according to BlueCrest’s New York suit.

Whitney’s American Revival Fund slid 11 percent last year through November despite a rising stock market. BlueCrest is in the process of discontinuing the Bermuda case, according to its New York suit.

Stanley Arkin, an attorney representing Whitney, said BlueCrest was contractually required to file any dispute in New York and that filing the case in Bermuda first “does not reflect well on the probity of the underlying papers”.

Whitney and Kenbelle haven’t done anything to violate terms of their contract with BlueCrest, Arkin said.