Ansbacher officer to seek court costs

The authorised officer inquiring into the Ansbacher deposits will make an application for costs to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands today in relation to the attempt to block his inquiry made earlier this year.

Ansbacher (Cayman), which was unsuccessful in its challenge to the investigation, has not appealed the decision of the court and it is now thought unlikely that it will.

The officer, Mr Gerard Ryan, is currently considering his next move in his attempt to force the bank to hand over documents. The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has said he will use all available legal means to secure retrieval of the documents.

In April the bank sought a ruling under the Cayman confidentiality laws as to whether it should co-operate with an order to produce documents. However, it also argued that the order, served on the bank by way of the Dublin solicitors, A&L Goodbody in January, was not properly served. The Grand Court ruled that the bank should first test this argument in a Dublin court. No such case has yet been taken by the bank.

During the course of the July hearing, the bank disclosed that it did not intend to voluntarily hand over the documents. The material being sought relates to the operation of the Ansbacher deposits and was brought to the Cayman Islands from Dublin a number of years ago.

Following the decision of the Grand Court Ms Harney said she was "at a loss to understand" how the Cayman bank and its parent banks could stand over the banking and corporate practices revealed in the McCracken report and she urged them to reconsider their attitude towards Mr Ryan's inquiry. Ansbacher (Cayman) is owned by the Henry Ansbacher group, which in turn is owned by First National Bank of South Africa. That bank has now merged into a new entity called First Rand.

The banks have not made any public comment on the case. Mr Ryan may serve another order on the bank, though given its attitude it is unlikely to comply and hand over the documents. The only way the bank can be forced to do so is if Mr Ryan makes a successful application to the Grand Court for an order directing it to do so. Such an application was made by the McCracken tribunal but was unsuccessful.

Mr Ryan has already received documentation from other firms linked to the deposits: Irish Intercontinental Bank; Guinness & Mahon; and Hamilton Ross Ltd, a Cayman Islands company.