PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

Coatigan said:
Looks like it is this daft roud on the roundabout all over again. The same people claiming the same nonsense, the same people arguing it. Over and over.

The verdict wasnt handed to anyone in March. Nobody is sitting on shit. It would be utterly irresponsible from either side to do so.
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The PL are an incredibly irresponsible organisation.

It’s really not that hard to believe mate.
 
As the long-awaited £2 billion claim brought by NMC Health against EY began to be heard in His Majesty's High Court of Justice in London this week, the opening submissions have shone a light on the alleged links between the former FTSE 100 company and another royal court.

After NMC, based in the United Arab Emirates, collapsed into administration five years ago in one of the biggest alleged fraud scandals to hit the London Stock Exchange, rumours have circulated that the private healthcare company was ultimately owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and owner of Manchester City football club.

Alvarez & Marsal, which was appointed as the administrator of NMC in April 2020, filed a claim against EY three years ago for breach of contract and duty of care, and negligence. The trial began on Monday and EY rejects the claim.

But both the administrator and EY, the big four accounting firm that was NMC's auditor between 2012 and 2018, agree that the alleged fraud was for the benefit of its principal shareholders: Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, an Indian tycoon who founded NMC; and Saeed Bin Butti, an Emirati tycoon; and his nephew Khalifa Bin Butti, a former executive vice-chairman of NMC.

In written opening submissions to the High Court, EY put NMC's alleged connections to Sheikh Mansour at the centre of its defence over the size of the claim, arguing: "The evidence suggests that Sheikh Mansour stood behind the Bin Buttis in some informal way, making him effectively a shadow owner of NMC".

The firm stated: "That seems to have been well understood in the region at the time, although the connection was never drawn to EY's attention, and NMC remains reticent about acknowledging it even now."

According to EY, "these facts are relevant for understanding", in part, why various banks may have lent to NMC "irrespective of red flags".

EY's 398-page written defence makes a number of references to the alleged links between Sheikh Mansour and NMC. In a witness statement from Lord Clanwilliam, a former non-executive director of NMC and chairman of its audit committee, cited by EY, he stated: "My initial impression of the Bin Buttis was that Saeed was very well connected, and Khalifa Bin Butti was a newgeneration Arab entrepreneur, with the ability to communicate with both his own people and western-orientated business circles."

Clanwiliam, 64, added: "Saeed held official roles at the Royal Court, which meant he had the ear of government officials. I also recall suggestions that he might have a business relationship with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, another very prominent member of the royal family and the deputy prime minister of the UAE from 2009 onwards, although I was never told that formally."

EY also cited a claim brought against Dubai Islamic Bank, where it was alleged that the bank had continued to lend to the NMC Group because employees believed it was "de facto substantially owned by a high-profile third-party" through the Bin Buttis. That ownership was "politically sensitive" and the owner had "established as a priority that Dr Shetty be allowed to run the NMC Group as he saw fit".

NMC, according to EY, was "happy to emphasise its royal connections".

In 2011, a year before NMC listed on the London Stock Exchange, another lender was told that Saeed Bin Butti, 56, "hails from one of the most prominent families in Abu Dhabi and maintains very close ties with the ruling family", adding that "he is also a very close associate" of Sheikh Mansour and "manages/represents his various investments/business ventures".

Similarly, EY cited evidence in 2016 that Canara Bank, an Indian bank, was told by an NMC intermediary that a "few of the directors on the board of NMC are a part of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, hence their KYC [know your customer] and net worth shall not be available".

The personal relationship between Shetty, 82, described as a "towering figure" in the group with a "paternal style of leadership", and Sheikh Mansour appeared to be "much less close" than the relationship between the royal and the Bin Buttis, according to EY's submissions.

EY cited, though, a formal letter from Shetty to Sheikh Mansour in 2016 suggesting a Japanese co-venture, where he stated: "I humbly request the blessings and patronage of Your Highness in this venture. It will also be a great honour to associate with Your Highness in forming one more new entity Thanking Your Highness once again for the continual support extended to me."

As another example, EY referred to a hospital complaint to NMC from a "prominent customer" that threatened: "Please contact us or we will send a letter for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and [Saeed Bin Butti] to solve this problem."

EY noted that it was "telling" that the complainant had put Sheikh Mansour "ahead of the notional owner as likely to be in a position to guarantee the desired outcome".

When NMC was plunged into crisis by a damning report from Muddy Waters, the US short-seller, that raised accounting and governance issues in late 2019, an independent review committee was formed made up of nonexecutive NMC directors.

Messages exchanged by NMC management at about this time, cited by EY, suggested the scandal was attracting "high-level attention in the UAE".

One message is said to have read: "Hi sir good afternoon [sic] Prasanth has to submit some more details to the Shiekhs office with regard to trading."

EY said it was not clear which sheikh was being referred to.

At its peak in 2018 NMC was valued at £8.6 billion and was a constituent of the FTSE 100. The crisis wiped out investors and has left claims from creditors totalling more than £3.4 billion. The creditors committee includes ADCB, a bank majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Operating companies of NMC exited administration in the UAE in 2022.

Alvarez & Marsal previously reached a settlement in 2022 with the Bin Buttis as part of the businessmen's bankruptcy proceedings in Abu Dhabi. But EY in its submissions argued that the administrators could have done more in pursuing the claim.

The administrators, in their submissions against EY, dismiss the suggestion that they went "soft" on the Bin Buttis, arguing they had negotiated a settlement "whereby the Bin Buttis returned a large number of assets to the group".

Sheikh Mansour and Shetty were approached for comment. The Bin Buttis could not be reached for comment.

Shetty has previously claimed he is the "victim of a large-scale fraud" and the Bin Buttis have previously declined to comment on their 2022 settlement.

Khalifa Bin Butti, 45, has previously said that "any suggestion that I have been involved in wrongdoing is categorically rejected".

The hearing continues.
 
TheGhost said:
I thought supposedly ITK posters were saying City & the PL had received the verdict a couple of weeks ago.

It seems improbable to me that it’s not leaked if that’s the case. Or was it just more made up bull shit?
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If only a handful know , which one of the handful would leak it?
 
Grassland Blue said:
When I worked at Man Vic in the 80s you used to be able to buy a 'bin lid' from the back of the corn exchange.
This was a large circular muffin/barm which contained a full English.
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Oh shit! What have you started? The bap brigade will be here shortly.
 
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