Clients of financial firm to be told of shortfall

INVESTORS IN the failed company Custom House Capital (CHC) will be told how much remains in their client accounts at the firm within three months on cash, share and bond investments but up to six months on any investments in property.

The court-appointed liquidator to the firm wrote to investors earlier this month to update them on the likely timelines for his completion of the reconciliation of the firm’s assets and funds to individual client accounts.

Kieran Wallace of KPMG told the investors in the letter that the reconciliation process was in progress. He is trying to unravel where particular clients’ funds were channelled within the firm.

The High Court appointed Mr Wallace liquidator of Custom House Capital in October after the Central Bank found “systemic and deliberate misuse” of €66 million in clients’ funds to cover shortfalls in the firm’s property investments.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan described the company’s activities as “a sort of Irish Ponzi scheme”.

Details on investments of client money in equities, bonds and cash and client balances in relation to those investments will be provided to clients within three months.

Determining client balances on property investments will take between three and six months, Mr Wallace told investors in his letter.

He will report back to the court on January 30th with an update on his investigation into the firm.

Accountants Horwath Bastow Charleton, which were appointed manager of client assets, had previously told customers they would be told of the positions on their accounts by December 21st.

The accountancy firm had warned investors in October that this deadline was “tentative” and “subject to change” due to the uncertainty around the circumstances leading to the High Court investigation into the company. Set up in 1997 and run by businessman Harry Cassidy, CHC managed €1.15 billion in assets for 1,500 clients.