Hunt Brothers File Suit Against 23 Banks

DALLAS —  Three sons of the late oil tycoon H. L. Hunt and two of their oil companies filed suit Tuesday against 23 major banks seeking $3.6 billion for an alleged refusal to restructure more than $1.5 billion in loans.

Placid Oil Co., Penrod Drilling Co., the three Hunt family trusts that own the businesses, Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt and Lamar Hunt asked for more than $1.2 billion in actual damages and a court assessment of triple that amount.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court here, charged that the bank syndicates violated antitrust laws, the Bank Holding Company Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Instead of addressing a need for restructuring $1.5 billion in loans, the suit said, the banks:

- Orchestrated financial crises through false promises of cooperation and calculated delays.

- Controlled and manipulated the companies’ operations for the banks’ own benefit.

- Undercut the companies’ attempts to sell some of their assets and borrow from competing banks by disclosing confidential information.

- Pressured Placid Oil to eliminate exploration and development activity and to liquidate assets.

- Made demands that would have put both Penrod and Placid out of business.

Named in the suit were:

Bankers Trust Co., Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Citibank, Chemical Bank and European American Bank, all of New York; Bank of America, Crocker National Bank, First Interstate Bank of California and Security Pacific National Bank, all of California.

Also, First National Bank of Chicago and National Westminster Bank Group, also of Chicago; RepublicBank Dallas and Interfirst Bank Dallas; Texas Commerce Bank and First City National Bank, both of Houston; Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh; Marine Midland Bank of Buffalo, N.Y., and First National Bank of St. Paul in Minnesota. And four Canadian banks: Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. The Bank of Scotland was also named.