Parmalat is suing UBS to force the investment bank to return ?290m ($356m) to the bankrupt dairy group in the first of several filings the Italian company is expected to make to recoup more than ?1bn in bank fees and debt proceeds.

Parmalat, scrambling to pay back the ?14.5bn owed to creditors, also warned on Friday it could pursue UBS as part of an attempt to win at least ?1.6bn damages from banks, not necessarily all in Italy.