Blackbee liquidator ‘refused’ access to key database and systems

Blackbee Investments Ltd (BBIL) has refused to provide liquidators access to IT systems and a database containing internal records, according to a report prepared by the liquidators for the High Court.

Some 38 of the firm’s investment products, valued at €92m and sold to 994 investors, had matured but in a “significant” number of cases “the underlying property had not yet been disposed of or refinanced,” it said.

The total value of investments at BBIL was €179m, with over €48m of that related to pensions. Earlier this month the High Court appointed Luke Charleton and Colin Farquharson of EY as joint official liquidators to BBIL, following an application by the Central Bank of Ireland.

BBIL, part of Cork-based Blackbee group, is a Central Bank regulated investment manager, which sold both regulated investments and unregulated loan note type products.

BBIL had confirmed “co-mingling of regulated and non-regulated entity information,” said the report. BBIL “has not provided us with login details to access the online statements” to an AIB account it said held company funds.

“The company has refused to provide us with access to [database system] HIVE, to verify the company’s internal records due to co-mingling of regulated and non-regulated entity information,” it said. The liquidators had sought client financial information understood to be held by a Blackbee nominee company or in nominee accounts at Citi Bank.

“Despite repeated requests, BBIL has not confirmed the location of the original financial instruments, where the Blackbee Nominees Ltd are noted as the custodian,” it said. “We have contacted Citi to confirm they hold the original financial instruments for €162m of client assets.”

The liquidators needed to “confirm the custodian of the investments with a par value of €17m that are not held by Citi” and also “the existence and valuation of property assets underlying a number of investment products.”

Blackbee did not respond to a request to comment.

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