National Australia Bank and Idoport - 20 September 2000
National Australia Bank said today it had received a new, but related, statement of claim from Idoport Pty Limited, a company controlled by Mr John Maconochie.The claim against MLC Limited (a company the National announced in April 2000 it would be acquiring) and National On Line Trading Limited (a company that commenced operations in February 2000) and others is a separate (but related) action to the AUSMAQ case being heard by Justice Einstein in the Supreme Court.
The claim relates to various offerings of MLC Limited, National On Line Trading Limited and the National.
In this new action Idoport Pty Limited is also claiming performance bonuses under a 1996 consulting agreement between companies associated with Mr Maconochie and the National and others.
National spokesman Ross Pinney said this latest action, brought nearly two years after the start of the main claim, includes an attempt to claim a share of the revenue of MLC, a business acquired in June 2000, some four years after Mr Maconochie's consulting agreement was entered into.
"While we are not surprised at this move, given that it was recently threatened, we are surprised at the continuing extravagance of the claims made by Mr Maconochie's companies."
"Like the current claim, we believe this new claim is ill conceived and will fail and will have no material effect on the National's financial position," Mr Pinney said.