Bank to hand over MMI money

The official liquidator of Money Markets International Stockbrokers (MMI) yesterday secured a High Court order requiring Ulster Bank to hand over monies held by the bank in the names of clients of the stockbroking firm.

Ms Justice Laffoy also gave the liquidator, Mr Tom Kavanagh, permission to bring proceedings in the English courts seeking the transfer to him a sum of £379,686 sterling (€589,149) which is held in an MMI account in the National Westminister Bank, Princes Street, London.

Mr John Gleeson, for the liquidator, said there appeared to be no good reason why National Westminister should be withholding the monies. The bank had adopted an attitude that it would not hand over the monies without an order of an English court.

In relation to Ulster Bank, Mr Gleeson said the liquidator wanted credit balances in client accounts at the bank to be transferred to him. Ulster Bank had raised a number of queries concerning the source of these funds and the entitlement of Mr Kavanagh to have them transferred to him. The bank had also referred to an apparent entitlement to some of these monies.

In an affidavit, Mr Kavanagh said that, without prejudice to the bank's claim of entitlement, the monies ought to be under his control.

Mr Gleeson said the liquidator had discovered that MMI had put monies into client accounts to cover losses that had accumulated. In those circumstances it was correct to say that monies in client accounts were mixed funds and were not exclusively clients' monies.

Making the orders sought, Mr Justice Laffoy said there were very complex issues to be decided in this liquidation and there was an obligation on the liquidator to take the monies in question under his control.