CBLC update

Media release
MR No. 2024 - 53

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko - welcomes the High Court's decision last week to dismiss the application to strike out the FMA's claim against the executor of the estate of former CBLC director Alistair Hutchison.

The FMA's claim relates to the alleged failure by CBLC, two of its former directors and its chief financial officer, to disclose related party interests in a series of interrelated transactions (known as the Samoa Transaction) in CBLC's Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) upon listing in October 2015. The FMA also alleges false and misleading statements in the PDS as to CBL Insurance Limited's solvency position and the stated purpose of the IPO (the IPO Proceeding)¹.

Mr Hutchison died in December 2021, however the FMA's civil claim in the IPO proceeding continues against the executor of his estate. Following Mr Hutchison's death the FMA is no longer seeking pecuniary penalties against the estate and now seeks declarations of contravention only².

The FMA considers that it is in the public interest to continue the IPO proceeding against the estate given Mr Hutchison's central involvement in the Samoa Transaction. The High Court agreed that this does not amount to an abuse of process and that a fair trial is possible.

The FMA's trial relating to the IPO is scheduled to take place in April 2026.

ENDS

Download the High Court Judgment

Notes

¹The FMA continues to seek pecuniary penalties against CBLC (in liquidation), Mr Peter Harris (former Managing Director and CEO), and Mr Carden Mulholland (former CFO).

²The FMA also discontinued its claim in the Continuous Disclosure proceeding against the estate of Mr Hutchison.