LONDON (Reuters) - Libya's $67 billion sovereign wealth fund will turn to the UK Court of Appeal, a source said on Friday, after a high court judge denied it permission to appeal her judgment in a $1.2 billion case against Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
Responding to the fund's request, Judge Vivien Rose denied it permission to appeal her October judgment in which she dismissed the Libyan Investment Authority's (LIA) case against Goldman Sachs over nine equity derivatives trades made in 2008.
But a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the LIA is now likely to seek permission from the Court of Appeal.
Litigants can ask the Court of Appeal for permission to proceed with an appeal if the trial judge has refused permission.
In the LIA's court filings, seen by Reuters, the fund said an appeal would be confined to its claim in respect of four trades made in April 2008, and a prestigious internship that Goldman Sachs offered to Haitem Zarti, the younger brother of Mustafa Zarti, a key LIA decision-maker at the time.
"We say the offer of an internship was a bribe in civil law," Roger Masefield, a lawyer for the LIA, told the court. "This was sufficient to create a real possibility of a conflict of interest in the mind of Mustafa Zarti."
Goldman Sachs said in an emailed statement there was no basis for an appeal. "The judgment clearly established that the internship did not have a material influence on the decision of Mr Zarti and the LIA to enter into the April Trades," it said.