FMA cans civil case against Lombard
But criminal case against directors to proceed.
The Financial Markets Authority has dropped civil proceedings against the Insured Group, previously called Lombard Group.
Criminal charges against directors of Lombard Finance and Investments directors will proceed, with Sir Douglas Graham, Michael Reeves, William Jeffries and Lawrence Bryant due to face trial in October over charges untrue statements were made in prospectuses.
Lombard Group was the parent of Lombard Finance.
The civil proceedings alleged failures to meet continuous disclosure obligations by directors.
FMA chief executive Sean Hughes said in a statement the civil proceedings were dropped after an assessment of cases he inherited from the Securities Commission.
“We need to focus our energy and resources on the most serious area of misconduct, and against perpetrators who set out to deliberately mislead or deceive innocent third parties,” he said.
In March last year Perth-based Australian Consolidated Insurance completed a reverse takeover of Lombard Group in order to list on the NZX.
Mr Hughes said the new company had little relation to the activities of Lombard Finance.
“The civil proceedings were directed at the current board of directors, and would have been conducted at the cost of shareholders, who generally had no involvement in the non-compliant behaviour,” he said.
Matt Nippert
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
Fri, 17 Jun 2011
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FMA cans civil case against Lombard
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