Court rejects Ford claim to block Lifemark policies sale

8 August 2011 11:44 am | By Natalie Holt

A Luxemburg court has refused an application brought by Keydata founder Stewart Ford aimed at preventing the sale of Lifemark policies acquired through the family trust vehicle Billericay Trading.

In June 2009 Billericay provided a £10.5m loan to Lifemark which was used to buy 28 life insurance policies.

Lifemark and its provisional administrator Eric Collard, of KPMG Luxemburg, were served with two summons brought by Ford (pictured) in April this year.  The first summons was for an interim judgment preventing Lifemark from selling any of the Lifemark portfolio acquired with the Billericay loan.

Preliminary hearings took place in May, June and July, with pleadings on July 18.

The first summons was turned down by the Luxemburg-City district court on July 25.

A notice to Lifemark bondholders published last week says: “In this order, the court, among others, rejected Billericay’s claim on all legal grounds put forward and  ordered Billericay to pay a procedural indemnity of €700 to Lifemark. This order may be subject to appeal.”

The second summons calls for Lifemark to repay the £10.5m loan to Billericay plus interest due since last February.

A hearing on the second summons will take place on October 4.

Ford says: “Billericay sought an interim order to prevent Lifemark’s provisional administrator from disposing of the life settlement policies that were acquired with the Billericay loan and which underpin the loan agreement.

“I understand that the interim order which was sought on a summary basis is open to appeal and this is no doubt an option that will be considered by Billericay and its lawyers.

“The substantive claim by Billericay on the payment of its loan to Lifemark is ongoing.”

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