Bank of Baroda pays $600 million to settle NMC Health fraud litigation in Abu Dhabi, London

Bank of Baroda has agreed to an out-of-court settlement of US$600 million (approximately ₹5,700 crore) to resolve high-stakes litigation with the NMC Health group and its joint administrators in Abu Dhabi and London.

The state-owned lender resolved insolvency proceedings in Abu Dhabi and London without admitting liability, capping its exposure in the NMC Health collapse at $600 million (₹5,700 crore).

The same was were disclosed by the bank in a regulatory filing on July 2. 

The payment, settled by the bank’s Abu Dhabi branch, brings to a close two parallel sets of proceedings — one before the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Court of First Instance and another before the High Court of Justice, England & Wales. 

“NMC Health PLC, NMC Healthcare Ltd, NMC Holding Ltd, and their respective Joint Administrators, have resolved the claims between them and the Bank of Baroda in consideration for, inter alia, payment by Bank of Baroda of US$ 600 million, pursuant to a settlement agreement,” the filing said.

The filing with the Indian stock exchanges stated that the parties reached a settlement without admission of liability or wrongdoing with the terms of settlement remaining confidential.

As per the filing,  

“All claims, causes of action, etc. between them have been resolved without admission of liability or wrongdoing. The liability of the bank in these proceedings is limited to this sum." 

Once a large company listed on the London Stock Exchange, NMC Health unravelled after short seller Muddy Waters published a report in December 2019 alleging inflated assets and undisclosed related party transactions. Subsequent investigation by administrators revealed total debt of US$6.6 billion against just US$2.1 billion disclosed in audited financial statements. 

According to the filing, the cases were filed in 2022 in the ADGM court and High Court in England & Wales. The ADGM trial named NMC founder Dr BR Shetty and former CEO Prasanth Manghat alongside Bank of Baroda as defendants and commenced on March 23, 2026.

The administrators alleged in the court that BoB facilitated fictitious financing arrangements, processing credit based on fabricated invoices to help management conceal NMC's true debt position. The parallel English proceedings had been stayed pending the ADGM outcome.

The bank described the settlement as intended "to bring the disputes to conclusion thereby avoiding prolonged litigation, uncertainty and associated cost". 

Following the agreement, the ADGM proceedings have been discontinued, while the English proceedings are in the process of being discontinued.

The legal team representing Bank of Baroda in Abu Dhabi included Harish Salve KC (Blackstone Chambers) and Victoria Windle KC (Twenty Essex) with law firms from India (Poovayya & Co, team led by Dharmendra Chatur, Partner) and the UK (Baker & McKenzie, team led by Hugh Lyons and Henry Garfield).

Claimants were represented by Bankim Thanki KC and Henry King KC (Fountain Court Chambers) with Quinn Emanuel.