The High Court approved reduced remuneration and legal costs for the joint liquidators of Treasury Holdings after €8,536.20 attributable to correcting their own filing error was removed from the amount sought.
Mr Justice Twomey gave the ruling on 23 November 2022 in the liquidation of Treasury Holdings. The application concerned the liquidators’ remuneration and their lawyers’ costs for the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2022, along with permission to file amended Forms E4 with the Companies Office.
The liquidators, Mr Michael McAteer and Mr Paul McCann, had sought approval to replace 14 Forms E4 filed over the previous seven years, covering 2016 to 2022. The original forms incorrectly included information about solvent subsidiaries of Treasury Holdings. The judgment said no criticism was made of the liquidators over the mistake.
At an initial hearing on 25 October 2022, the court was concerned that the fees and legal costs might include work to identify and correct the error. NAMA, the largest creditor, had agreed to the original amounts: €290,395.92 for the liquidators and €38,670.62 for solicitors and counsel. The court adjourned the fee approval application and sought clarification.
At a hearing on 10 November, the liquidators confirmed in an affidavit that €8,536.20, including VAT, in the original request related to correcting their error. They reduced the amounts submitted for approval by €4,747.80 in liquidator remuneration and €3,788.40 in legal costs. The revised figures were €285,648.12 and €34,882.22 respectively.
The court said the amount attributable to correcting the error should remain in the company for creditors’ benefit. The liquidators also said they would review post-30 September 2022 costs relating to the error to ensure those were excluded from any future approval request.
The judgment said NAMA agreed to the reduced figures at the second hearing. It nevertheless stressed that court oversight remained important where a State agency was the primary creditor, because taxpayers could bear the cost of an overpayment. The court approved the reduced remuneration and legal costs. It made no criticism of the liquidators or their lawyers.