C+M receivers hope to declare first payout soon

Perpetual, C+M's former trustee, has also made a claim on the settlement money. Photo / File

One-third of Capital + Merchant Finance's $18.5 million settlement fund is ring-fenced for claims from the failed firm's trustee and a global investment giant.

The remaining $10.26 million of the fund is being held by C+M's receivers, who are hoping to inform long-suffering investors this month when they can expect their first payout.

Investors in the firm, which loaned money to property projects, were owed $167 million when it collapsed during last decade's wave of finance company failures.

Some seven years later, C+M's auditor, BDO Spicers, paid $18.5 million in a settlement deal after being sued for alleged negligence.

The settlement, announced last June, was made without any admission of liability on BDO Spicers' part. Not all of that settlement money, however, will reach out-of-pocket investors.

C+M's liquidator will get $2.35 million for its costs, according to a report filed with Companies Office last Friday.

Two other "priority" claims on the settlement funds have also been lodged.

One is from Australia's Fortress Credit Corporation, a branch of global investment giant Fortress Investment Group.

Last Friday's report says $3.87 million is being held by the liquidator in a separate fund for this claim.

Perpetual, C+M's former trustee, has also made a claim on the settlement money and the report says $2.5 million is being held separately for this.

These two claims, according to the liquidator's report, will be determined after a High Court hearing next month unless they are resolved before reaching the courtroom.

While making a claim, Perpetual is also facing a separate one from CMF's receivers for an alleged breach of duty.