Post by QPR Report on Dec 4, 2009 7:50:12 GMT
David Conn/The Guardian
League set to approve Leeds owners but keep identities secret• Documents show offshore owners 'fit and proper' persons
• Ken Bates revised account of who owned League One club
The Football League is expected to declare within days that it knows who Leeds United's owners are and that those people are "fit and proper" to be in charge of the club.
League sources indicated last night that the League One club has provided significant detail and supporting documents to demonstrate to the League's satisfaction who the individuals are behind Leeds's complex offshore ownership. The League's new policy, outlined by the chairman, Lord Mawhinney, at a meeting of clubs yesterday, is that all clubs must identify to the league who their owners are, and they must be passed as "fit and proper". However, the policy does not extend to the League requiring this information to be made public. Leeds fans will not discover who actually owns their club unless the club decides to tell them.
The League asked Leeds a series of questions about the club's ownership after the Guardian revealed in September that the Leeds chairman, Ken Bates, had revised his account of who owned the club. The revelations were made in a court action in Jersey, where Leeds are suing a company, Admatch, whom the club claim owes them £190,000. Admatch is defending the action, counter-claiming that it is owed £2m by Leeds.
In evidence to the Royal Court of Jersey in January, Bates's solicitors said the Forward Sports Fund, registered in the offshore tax haven of the Cayman Islands, ultimately owned Leeds. The solicitors said Bates and his long-term financial advisor, Patrick Murrin, owned one "management share" each in Forward. Mark Taylor, Bates's lawyer, said subsequently that these were the only shares in Forward, therefore Bates and Murrin were its joint owners. Then in May, Bates swore an affidavit to the Royal Court, stating that that previous information had been "not correct" and it had been "an error on my part" to say he was Forward's joint owner. The sworn statement attached a letter from investment brokers in Geneva, Château Fiduciaire, which said they were the administrators of the Forward Sports Fund. That letter clarified that there were in fact 10,000 shares in Forward, that Bates did not own any and nor did any Leeds director. The letter said: "It is not the policy of this company to release information on ultimate ownership without an appropriate court order."
Before these developments, and the questions raised by the Guardian about who lies behind Notts County's new offshore structure, the League had maintained that it could not investigate the ownership of clubs in offshore tax havens which guarantee anonymity to shareholders. However, Mawhinney and the League's board have now revised that policy and will insist that all new owners of clubs provide evidence of ultimate ownership to the league's satisfaction, before they are allowed to take over.
Leeds United, Mark Taylor, Patrick Murrin and Château Fiduciaire all declined to comment yesterday.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/04/leeds-united-ownership-football-league
League set to approve Leeds owners but keep identities secret• Documents show offshore owners 'fit and proper' persons
• Ken Bates revised account of who owned League One club
The Football League is expected to declare within days that it knows who Leeds United's owners are and that those people are "fit and proper" to be in charge of the club.
League sources indicated last night that the League One club has provided significant detail and supporting documents to demonstrate to the League's satisfaction who the individuals are behind Leeds's complex offshore ownership. The League's new policy, outlined by the chairman, Lord Mawhinney, at a meeting of clubs yesterday, is that all clubs must identify to the league who their owners are, and they must be passed as "fit and proper". However, the policy does not extend to the League requiring this information to be made public. Leeds fans will not discover who actually owns their club unless the club decides to tell them.
The League asked Leeds a series of questions about the club's ownership after the Guardian revealed in September that the Leeds chairman, Ken Bates, had revised his account of who owned the club. The revelations were made in a court action in Jersey, where Leeds are suing a company, Admatch, whom the club claim owes them £190,000. Admatch is defending the action, counter-claiming that it is owed £2m by Leeds.
In evidence to the Royal Court of Jersey in January, Bates's solicitors said the Forward Sports Fund, registered in the offshore tax haven of the Cayman Islands, ultimately owned Leeds. The solicitors said Bates and his long-term financial advisor, Patrick Murrin, owned one "management share" each in Forward. Mark Taylor, Bates's lawyer, said subsequently that these were the only shares in Forward, therefore Bates and Murrin were its joint owners. Then in May, Bates swore an affidavit to the Royal Court, stating that that previous information had been "not correct" and it had been "an error on my part" to say he was Forward's joint owner. The sworn statement attached a letter from investment brokers in Geneva, Château Fiduciaire, which said they were the administrators of the Forward Sports Fund. That letter clarified that there were in fact 10,000 shares in Forward, that Bates did not own any and nor did any Leeds director. The letter said: "It is not the policy of this company to release information on ultimate ownership without an appropriate court order."
Before these developments, and the questions raised by the Guardian about who lies behind Notts County's new offshore structure, the League had maintained that it could not investigate the ownership of clubs in offshore tax havens which guarantee anonymity to shareholders. However, Mawhinney and the League's board have now revised that policy and will insist that all new owners of clubs provide evidence of ultimate ownership to the league's satisfaction, before they are allowed to take over.
Leeds United, Mark Taylor, Patrick Murrin and Château Fiduciaire all declined to comment yesterday.
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/04/leeds-united-ownership-football-league
