Financial firm remains protected

TROUBLED Dublin-based financial firm Structured Credit Company will continue to have the protection of the High Court until September 5.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy decided yesterday to continue with the interim examinership he put in place last Monday, and directed that the winding-up petition granted by Ms Justice Mary Irvine on Friday August 17, be brought forward to be heard on the same day.

Mr Edward Bowers, chief executive officer of SCC, succeeded in having the examiner appointed, after Japanese banking giant Nomura International had sought to have the company put in liquidation and after they had been granted an order appointing Simon Coyle as provisional liquidator.

The legal propriety of which court order will stand, will be argued before the duty judge.

Mr Bernard Dunleavy, counsel for Nomura, said that in the event that the court decides not to confirm the appointment of the interim examiner, the winding-up petition would then be heard.

An independent accountant’s report was handed into court yesterday and will now be furnished to all of SCC’s trading partners. If they are taking a position in relation to that report they have to deliver any sworn affidavits by close of business next Friday.

On Monday last Mr Bowers, in an affidavit grounding his application for the appointment of an interim examiner, had told the court that the provisional liquidator, Simon Coyle, had called together SCC staff and had sent them home without pay, pending the making of a winding-up order.

He said Mr Coyle had taken back from all the staff members the keys to the building and accordingly neither the directors nor the staff of SCC had access to the books and records of the company, email traffic and all of the other items housed in or operated through the company’s offices.

In addition, Mr Coyle had secured the company’s bank accounts so that no payments could be made by the company. He said his actions had been prejudicial to SCC’s efforts to seek to have an interim examiner appointed.

Mr Gary McCarthy, counsel for Mr Coyle, told the court this was not true.