ICAI member is named in Liechtenstein memo to Davy

A Zurich-based accountant who is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland is named in the memo drafted for Davy Stockbrokers concerning a Liechtenstein-based tax scheme.

The accountant, Mr Edmund Burke, when contacted yesterday, said he could not confirm that he was consulted in Zurich in 1984 in relation to the scheme. "You don't know the author of the document so I can't say if I am the person," he said.

The document states that Mr Burke gave a "very full expose" on Liechtenstein trusts and that his exposition was "extremely informative". Mr Burke said he was aware of the document and that it "could have been prepared by a first year law student". It was his understanding, Mr Burke said, that the document had never been acted upon and he didn't know what all the "fuss" was about.

Mr Burke, who is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, is described as a sole practitioner in the Irish institute's register. He was contacted at the offices of Moores Rowland (Zurich). The company is part of the worldwide accountancy affiliation, Moores Rowland International. "This whole business has nothing to do with Moores Rowland," Mr Burke said.

The 1984 memo, which was drafted for the partners in Davy Stockbrokers as they were contemplating the sale of a 29.9 per cent stake to Citicorp, for a reported £5 million (€6.35 million), said of Mr Burke: "The impression is that of an individual and a firm which is well attuned to the business in hand." At the time, Moores Rowland was known as Fox Moore.

The memo states that Mr Burke's company operates on straightforward telephone instructions. "There should never be any correspondence," the memo states.

It also states that "no documents concerning the arrangements, whether as regard setting up or operating, should ever come into Ireland nor should there be any meetings in Ireland. No Irish property (ie Irish registered shares or securities or real estate of any kind) should ever be put into the trust".

The Irish affiliate of Moores Rowland International is John Woods and Company, of Blackrock, Co Dublin. Contact with Mr Burke and other Swiss advisers interviewed in 1984 was made through the Blackrock company. Efforts to contact Mr Woods have been unsuccessful.

Davy has said it never acted on the Liechtenstein scheme, that all the proceeds from the sale to Citicorp were in pounds and that appropriate tax was paid to the Revenue.

However Mr Kyran McLaughlin, who resigned as joint chief executive of Davy on Wednesday, has said he used the memo when establishing a trust for his children in 1986. Mr Burke said he would not discuss anything to do with Mr McLaughlin.

Moores Rowland International is an international network of 155 firms and their partners, with more than 600 offices worldwide. It was formed in 1985 and was formerly known as Fox Moore International. It is the 8th largest association of accounting firms in the world.