Harbour fights back over CBL failure

Harbour Asset Management is at the forefront of a class action claim filed over the failure of insurance company CBL Corporation.

Friday, November 1st 2019, 12:21PM

The company was put into liquidation in May but was at one point valued at $750 million.

Harbour Asset Management and Argo Investments were major shareholders.

A statement of claim has now been filed in the Wellington High Court by the CBL class action claim committee against the former directors of CBL Corporation.

Harbour managing director Andrew Bascand, chairman of the CBL class action claim committee, said the statement of claim clearly outlined its allegations.

“The claim alleges the directors of CBL are responsible for misleading statements in the IPO documents that, at the time the company listed on the NZX and ASX, it had adequate financial reserves to meet its insurance obligations. The claim also alleges that directors are responsible for the company failing to update the market in the period after the IPO with material information about CBL’s financial position,” he said.

“The insider trading allegations in the statement of claim allege that directors Peter Harris and Alistair Hutchison, through companies controlled by them, sold shares in CBL while they were in possession of material information relating to CBL that they knew was not available to the market generally.”

Bascand said shareholders around the world lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the collapse.

"The directors must be held to account for their actions and shareholders compensated for their losses.”

“Since launching the CBL class action earlier this month, we have received hundreds of registrations, including both institutional investors and out-of-pocket mum-and-dad shareholders keen to join the claim.

"We believe legal action is the only way investors in CBL can get any money back,” he said.

Tags: Harbour Asset Management