What are the controversies surrounding negligence claims against auditors by liquidators and what steps can liquidators take to protect themselves against these claims?
These questions were addressed by Adrian Lai who recently delivered a talk in concert with Ludwig Ng, Senior Partner at ONC Lawyers.
A review of recent case law expose lacunae that have yet to be addressed from as far back as Caparo v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 to the House of Lords case of Stone & Rolls Ltd v Moore & Stephens [2009] 1 AC 1391 and the more recent Hong Kong cases of Moulin v CIR [2014] 17 HKCFAR 218 and Days Impex Ltd v Fung, Yu & Co HCA 1035/2014 (24 October 2017.)
Adrian began by recapping auditors’ duties and took the audience through a run-down of the available defences to negligence claims. Adrian and Ludwig discussed the lessons to be learned from the Stone & Rolls case and referenced various quotes highlighting the level of criticism the controversial case attracted e.g. a notably scathing quote by Lord Neuberger in the case of Bilton (No 2) “the Stone & Rolls case should be put on one side in a pile and not to be looked at again.”
The controversial nature of the cases that came under the microscope gave way to a lively Q&A discussion between the speakers and ONC’s solicitors.
