Annex U
Letter to Mr Bernard O'Sullivan, Titmuss
Sainer Dechert,
from Mr M A Fisher, Head of Business Operations,
National Westminster Bank
AGB INTERNATIONAL
(FORMERLY
PERGAMON
ABG PLC)
CHEQUE
NO:
001751 FOR
£200,000
I refer to your letter dated 25th August 1999 and
the subsequent authority granted by the Company's Administrators
to disclose the information sought in the aforementioned letter.
Taking your questions in turn:
1. On what date was cheque no 1751 paid into
the Tavistock Square Branch?
Reply: In the normal course of business, the cheque
would have been processed by Tavistock Square Branch on Friday,
7th December 1990.
2. On what date was the credit of £200,000
remitted to the Birmingham City Office from the Tavistock Square
Branch?
Reply: We cannot unequivocally link cheque number
001751 and the credit of £200,000 remitted to Birmingham
City Office. However, in the normal course of business the credit
would have been processed by Tavistock Square Branch on Friday,
7th December 1990. We would stress that this credit and the cheque
for £200,000 may be completely unrelated.
3. On what date were funds debited from the account
of AGB International plc? If this is not the date shown on the
bank statement (11 December 1990), please explain the difference.
Reply: Cheque number 001751 for £200,000
was debited from the account of Pergamon AGB plc on Tuesday, 11
December 1990.
4. It is possible that £200,000 was shown
as a credit in the account at Birmingham City Office (and therefore
on the statements of that account) on a date before the money
was debited from the AGB International account.
In other words, assuming the answer to question 3
to be 11 December 1990, is it possible that the £200,000
is shown as a credit on the receiving party's statements at 10
December 1990 or earlier?
Reply: In the normal course of business a credit
paid at Tavistock Square Branch (as referred to in our reply under
question 2) on 7th December 1990 for the credit of an account
domiciled at Birmingham City Office would have been applied to
the account on 11th December 1990 (i.e. the third working day).
However it is possible that events outside of the normal course
of business could result in the credit being applied to the account
on a different date. We have insufficient records available to
be able to identify whether such events applied in this case.
5. Applying general principles, if this particular
cheque was not specially cleared, what date would you expect it
to show up on the receiving party's bank statement?
Reply: Applying general principles and in the
normal course of business we would expect that it the cheque was
paid in at Tavistock Square Branch on 7 December 1990 with a credit
for an account domiciled at Birmingham City Office, then the funds
would appear on the beneficiary's bank statement on 11th December
1990 (i.e. the third working day).
You will see that in a number of areas we have referred
to "the normal course of business" being the 3 day clearing
cycle for both debits and credits (i.e. received working day 1,
passed to account working day 3).
There are possibilities, outside of the normal course
of business, which if applied to the questions you have raised
may have resulted in different responses. However, the very limited
records which we still possess for the period in question prevents
the reconstruction or identification of any events which in this
instance can be considered outside the normal course of business.
I hope the above is sufficient for your needs.
6 October 1999
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