Rathbone Brothers Statement Re Settlement Of Legal Proceedings
July 24 2014 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMRAT
Rathbone Brothers Plc ("Rathbones") announces that late on 23 July 2014
it entered into a conditional agreement to contribute to a settlement of
legal proceedings in Jersey involving a former director and employee of
a former subsidiary Rathbone Trust Company Jersey Limited and others,
and to settle associated legal proceedings against certain of Rathbones'
civil liability (professional indemnity) insurers (where the case has
recently been heard in the English Court of Appeal, but judgment not yet
handed down).
Both sets of proceedings have been reported on by Rathbones previously
in its Report and Accounts 2013 (see Note 1 below) and in its half
yearly financial report published today.
The terms of settlement are confidential and conditional upon various
matters, including receipt of Court approval in Jersey. Rathbones
confirms however that, upon the settlement becoming unconditional, it
will contribute GBP15 million as its share of the settlement, and
expects to report this amount as an exceptional cost in its full year
results for the year ending 31 December 2014. The settlement is expected
to become unconditional before the end of October 2014. A further
announcement will be made once the settlement has taken place.
Commenting on the settlement, Philip Howell, Chief Executive of
Rathbones, said:
"We are pleased to have closed off this long-running matter and to have
removed this uncertainty from our business. Whilst we believe that the
underlying Jersey claim would eventually prove unsuccessful and that
effective insurance cover would be confirmed following the recent Appeal
Court hearing, we have been mindful that litigation is never without
risk and that we could face several more years of very substantial legal
expense, having already incurred legal costs of approximately GBP5
million. We have therefore concluded that joining a settlement would be
in the best commercial interests of the company, allowing our senior
management team to apply its full focus to executing our strategic
plans."
For further information contact:
Rathbone Brothers Plc Quill PR
Tel: 020 7399 0000 Tel: 020 7466 5054
Philip Howell, Chief Executive Hugo Mortimer-Harvey
Paul Stockton, Finance Director
Note 1: Rathbones' legal proceedings against certain of its insurers,
and the underlying trust proceedings in Jersey, were referred to in the
chairman's statement and note 32 of Rathbones' Report and Accounts 2013.
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information
contained therein.
Source: Rathbone Brothers PLC via Globenewswire
HUG#1836001
http://www.rathbones.com/
Rathbones (LSE:RAT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Rathbones (LSE:RAT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024