Disgruntled clients of defunct Forluxe Securities face a six-month wait before their claims are addressed. They feel the outcome of their claims hinges on the CA Pacific Securities case, which is due to take place at the Court of First Instance soon and is set to be a bitter dispute, with two classes of clients warring over the ownership of shares. Two barristers from Britain have been flown in to fight for the respective sides, a move which will also escalate legal costs to be met by the investors. A poll of 600 Forluxe Securities clients by Nelson Wheeler Corporate Reconstruction & Insolvency - appointed by Court of First Instance judge Madam Justice Maria Yuen Ka-ning as the liquidator in the case - obtained a consensus to wait for the outcome of the CA Pacific case. Nelson Wheeler managing director Nick Hill said yesterday: 'Broadly the approach was to wait and see what happens.' However, this means clients will have to wait six months before the case is likely to be heard. The liquidators have received claims for $56.29 million in shares from the clients. If a decision is reached in the CA Pacific case by the end of this month, it will be subject to appeal, pushing the time-frame back even further. Clients in the CA Pacific case are in two categories: those with a proprietary interest in securities held by CA Pacific, and those with a personal monetary claim. In June, provisional liquidators Coopers & Lybrand indicated CA Pacific and its margin-financing company owed 11,000 clients $1.4 billion in shares when it failed in January.
