“This is not about penalizing Deutsche Bank,’’ the unidentified Nuveen official said in an undated call. “This is about a consistent stance about certain market practices that we think are harmful to not only Nuveen, but the market as a whole.”
In that call, a Deutsche Bank employee noted Nuveen’s blackballing of Preston Hollow was “devastating news.” Another official complained the effort to put the competing bond firm on the shelf had more immediate adverse consequences for the Frankfurt-based bank than other financial institutions.
“We’re getting the bigger punch in the stomach rather than Wells Fargo or BAML or Morgan Stanley,” the female employee said, according to the transcript. “We’re losing business, ongoing, you know.”
“The recordings demonstrate Nuveen was not just pressuring broker dealers to supply Nuveen with bonds rather than’’ Preston Hollow, according to court filings. “Nuveen was trying to choke off PHC’s liquidity from Deutsche Bank and any other sources of liquidity that Nuveen could identify.’’
The case is Preston Hollow Capital LLC v. Nuveen LLC, 2019-0169, Delaware Court of Chancery (Georgetown).
Bloomberg News.