Delusive mine
FOR your Christmas book list, coming shortly, never a dull page: the report and accounts of Johnson Matthey Bankers. Says one of the authors: 'It'll take a bit of writing.' A bit of auditing, too. Once the audited figures are out, JMB's sole owner in Threadneedle Street can get on with the business of selling it, and hopes to do that in a matter of months. The latest contin- gent liability might be tricky to sell. Note umpteen to the accounts: 'It has been intimated that claims may be made against your company and certain directors, aris- ing out of an alleged conspiracy to utter false documents and thereby obtain an improper advantage for your company as creditor. Your directors are advised that there is no substance in these claims, and no provision has therefore been made . . The salvage crew at JMB, whose critics have long claimed that they are too soft on their debtors, now find the attack switched through 180 degrees: they are charged with being rough to the point of illegality. I find that incredible. These are experts who have spent their working lives getting back money which their ex-colleagues have too airily lent. One of them, Martin Harper, is about to publish a treatise on the subject, showing a converse relationship between credit-worthiness and the appearance of wealth: I suggest as a title, 'Before you go bust, move to Bishops Avenue.' They would not advance, especially through a minefield like JMB, without pushing a metal-detecting lawyer in front of them. From the City, not Westminster, come re- ports that some of the previous crew (who steered JMB onto the rocks, and walked the plank) too readily assumed that there was such a thing as a free lunch. That need not hold up the sale, and just as well, because I am afraid I find it credible.
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