London - Goldman Sachs has been ordered to pay the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) 200,000 pounds (R3.6 million) in legal costs as part of a lawsuit brought by the fund over $1 billion in trades that ended up worthless.
The LIA filed the suit against Goldman in London's High Court in January, alleging the Wall Street investment bank exploited a position of trust by encouraging the fund to invest in a series of equity derivatives trades that expired as worthless in 2011.
Goldman has called the case without merit and said that it intends to contest it vigorously.
In April the bank filed a summary judgment application - a request to decide a claim without going to trial - but later withdrew it.
The two parties met in court for the first time this week for a hearing to discuss costs incurred in relation to the abandoned application, among other issues.
According to court documents, the LIA had originally sought $1 million in costs and had asked for 50 percent of that sum to be paid within 14 days.
The judge awarded an interim payment of 200,000 pounds to be paid within two weeks.
A decision on any extra costs payments related to the summary judgment application will be made at a later date.
Goldman declined to comment on Tuesday's ruling.
The lawsuit will now proceed to trial in 2016, the LIA said in a statement. - Reuters