A former Deutsche Bank equities boss, Robert Ebert, has lost a High Court bid to sue Ferrari in England after alleging the carmaker covered up a brake defect that led to him fatally running over a security guard in Hong Kong in 2015. Ebert, who was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and served 14 months in prison, claims his once-lucrative career was destroyed by the conviction and wants access to Ferrari documents to help build a claim against the company. A judge ruled that England was not the appropriate forum for the case, saying Hong Kong or Italy would be more suitable given where the accident, trial and key evidence are based.

Ebert's lawyers argued that Ferrari later recalled thousands of vehicles, including his own 458 Spider, over brake reservoir issues similar to what he alleges caused the crash, and say online forums flagged brake concerns as early as 2021. His barrister said the conviction cost him a career potentially worth up to $11 million. Ferrari's lawyers countered that the recall was unrelated to the accident and accused Ebert of trying to bypass proper legal channels for obtaining disclosure. Mrs Justice O'Farrell agreed, noting Ebert had not outlined even the basic legal and factual grounds for his claim, and that Hong Kong, where the crash, investigation and criminal trial took place, was the more appropriate venue.