A disqualification hearing for directors of the island’s collapsed Louis Group has been scheduled for the autumn.
Louis Group (IoM) was wound up by the high court in 2013.
An investigation by liquidators concluded there had been a ’substantial loss of investor capital, well into the £10s of millions’ with ’almost every Louis Group company in the Isle of Man being insolvent’.
The experience of investors had been ’financially devastating’, they said.
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Louis Group chief executive officer Dr Alan Louis together with John McCauley, Dirk Frederik Mudge and Lukas Nakos are facing high court proceedings brought by the Financial Services Authority.
Evidence will be held over 12 days, beginning at the end of October.
Following the departure of Deemster David Doyle, the proceedings are now continuing before Deemster Rosen QC.
The matter is listed for trial on October 29 to November 2, November 7-9 and November 12-15. Oral closing submissions will take place on December 14.
Three other Louis Group (IoM) directors have given voluntary undertakings of disqualification to the FSA - Andrew Rouse, Lynn Keig and Rousseau Moss.
About a quarter of the 700 or so investors in the Louis Group (IoM) were from the island, the remainder mainly being from South Africa and the UK.
The largest investor put in around £5m, but the vast majority invested between £10,000 and £30,000.
Investors were attracted by the Louis family’s self-projected religious values and representations of low risk investment.
Some 180 creditors’ claims, all but two unsecured, remain outstanding with a value in excess of £40m. But with Louis Group (IoM) having a cash balance of just £70,000, the liquidators say those claims are ’to all intents worthless’.
Dr Louis, accused of playing a pivotal role in the collapse, has always denied wrongdoing.
In a Tynwald question this month, Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Jason Moorhouse asked the Treasury Minister what lessons had been learned from the Louis Group (IoM) collapse.
Alfred Cannan said proceedings are ongoing, with associated issues currently sub-judice. But he said further ’learning points’ from the collapse may well be identified through this legal process.
He said the regulatory regime for financial advisors has been reviewed and there is now increased scrutiny on the risks of Trust and Corporate Service Providers having client companies which are not merely private arrangements, but have shareholders other than the original beneficial owner.