JPMorgan Raised Concerns About Fintech Viva Wallet With Bank of Greece

JPMorgan approached Greece’s central bank last year with concerns about “serious governance failings” at Viva Wallet, a Greek fintech company it partly owns, as well as “misconduct” of the firm’s chief executive and co-founder Haris Karonis, according to allegations filed in a U.K. court.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, JPMorgan sued a firm controlled by Karonis and his Viva Wallet co-founder, who between them control 51.5% of Viva Wallet. It alleged that Karonis sought to deny JPMorgan’s shareholder rights to appoint directors at Viva and force the bank to renegotiate a deal that would potentially allow it to buy him out of the company by the end of next year if its valuation stays below €5 billion.