JP Morgan Chase yesterday began proceedings to wring $1bn (£642m) in Enron-related losses, from 11 insurance companies.
JP Morgan Chase yesterday started proceedings to wring $1bn (£642m) in Enron-related losses, from 11 insurance companies.
The insurance companies are said to have have refused to honour contracts signed before the energy group went bankrupt.
The bank wants the insurers to honour six surety bonds they wrote to back trades involving Enron and Mahonia.
However the insurers argue they were only than straightforward loans.
The court case in New York is the first Enron trial since the prosecution of Arthur Andersen. The case begins a year after Enron filed for bankruptcy and its debts began to unravel.
A JP Morgan spokesman told The Guardian: "The insurance companies sold us guaranteed protection against Enron credit risk. They agreed that their obligation to pay was absolute and unconditional."
