The US Supreme Court extended the global hunt for tainted cash from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, refusing to shield European banks and other foreign investors from having to return roughly $3bn they collected before his 2008 arrest.

The justices declined to stop lawsuits against foreign institutions including HSBC Holdings PLC, Crédit Agricole SA and Société Générale SA over money stolen from Madoff’s victims that was transferred overseas. The court order paves the way for years of additional litigation against these foreign firms, some of the last—and largest—targets in an international legal campaign to dig up money for Madoff victims.