Rathbone Brothers : Statement re settlement of legal proceedings

Rathbone Brothers Plc ("Rathbones") announces that late on 23 July 2014 it entered into a conditional agreement to contribute to a settlement of legal proceedings in Jersey involving a former director and employee of a former subsidiary Rathbone Trust Company Jersey Limited and others, and to settle associated legal proceedings against certain of Rathbones' civil liability (professional indemnity) insurers (where the case has recently been heard in the English Court of Appeal, but judgment not yet handed down).

Both sets of proceedings have been reported on by Rathbones previously in its Report and Accounts 2013 (see Note 1 below) and in its half yearly financial report published today.

The terms of settlement are confidential and conditional upon various matters, including receipt of Court approval in Jersey. Rathbones confirms however that, upon the settlement becoming unconditional, it will contribute £15 million as its share of the settlement, and expects to report this amount as an exceptional cost in its full year results for the year ending 31 December 2014. The settlement is expected to become unconditional before the end of October 2014.  A further announcement will be made once the settlement has taken place.

Commenting on the settlement, Philip Howell, Chief Executive of Rathbones, said:

"We are pleased to have closed off this long-running matter and to have removed this uncertainty from our business. Whilst we believe that the underlying Jersey claim would eventually prove unsuccessful and that effective insurance cover would be confirmed following the recent Appeal Court hearing, we have been mindful that litigation is never without risk and that we could face several more years of very substantial legal expense, having already incurred legal costs of approximately £5 million. We have therefore concluded that joining a settlement would be in the best commercial interests of the company, allowing our senior management team to apply its full focus to executing our strategic plans." 

For further information contact:

Note 1:  Rathbones' legal proceedings against certain of its insurers, and the underlying trust proceedings in Jersey, were referred to in the chairman's statement and note 32 of Rathbones' Report and Accounts 2013.

HUG#1836001