CBL Insurance placed in liquidation

CBL Insurance placed in liquidation

By Rebecca Howard

Nov. 12 (BusinessDesk) - CBL Insurance, a subsidiary of CBL Corporation, was put into liquidation by the Auckland High Court despite the recommendation of the voluntary administrators.

"The administrators had been working to secure a restructuring proposal that could be implemented through a voluntary administration of CBLI, to avoid it being placed into liquidation," Brendon Gibson and Neale Jackson of KordaMentha said n a statement.

"In our view, a restructuring proposal implemented through a voluntary administration offered the potential to deliver a better outcome for CBLI’s creditors and creditors of the wider CBL Group companies. Ultimately, however, two of CBLI’s major creditors did not support voluntary administration, which is their right," Jackson said.

Auckland-based CBL appointed KordaMentha voluntary administrators in March after the Reserve Bank sought an interim liquidation of its New Zealand supervised arm and the Central Bank of Ireland made a similar move against the insurer's European division.

In a media statement published by interest.co.nz, CBL directors Peter Harris and Alistair Hutchinson said they decided to withdraw their opposition to the liquidation when two major creditors agreed to support it.

According to the statement, the directors made significant efforts to guarantee a "fully solvent outcome from CBLI and full payment to its New Zealand creditors and policyholders." Those efforts, however, were "scuttled" by the Reserve Bank which they said was focused on liquidation.

Watershed meetings to determine the fate of the rest of the group are scheduled to be held no later than Dec. 18.

(BusinessDesk)

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