Blue Chip's Bryers needs to get back on feet, court told

Mark Bryers. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Mark Bryers, bankrupted in 2009 owing $230 million, is running out of time to get back on his feet, his lawyer told a High Court hearing seeking to discharge the former boss of Blue Chip.

Associate Judge Jeremy Doogue reserved his decision at the end of a two-day application by Mark Bryers for discharge from his 5-year bankruptcy. His lawyer, David Chisholm, QC, said 57-year-old Bryers was at an age where he needed to re-establish himself.

"He needs to get back on his feet again, before it's too late," he said.

The court was told Bryers' debts were unrelated to Blue Chip's 2011 collapse, and were a result of personal guarantees he had made to financiers for third-party property developments and to Mide, the New Zealand franchisee of Australian-based Blue Chip Financial Solutions (later Northern Crest) which were never pursued by the parent company.

The Official Assignee backed down on his original submission for the former Blue Chip boss to have an indefinite banning order from running a company in New Zealand. In submissions to the High Court at Auckland, Phillip Cornege, acting for the Official Assignee, said it was up to the court what further sanctions it imposed on Bryers, given the lengthy nature of his bankruptcy beyond the normal three-year term.

Cornege accused Bryers of contrivance in his role as a strategic consultant to Australian company, Talos Accounting Group, when he was, in fact, pulling the strings in the background and playing a managerial role.

Bryers denied the accusation and had the support of two witnesses and long-time associates Lawrence Eakin and Robert Hughes. Eakin is a former executive director of Northern Crest (formerly Blue Chip) and both men have been involved in running Talos.

Cornege said Bryers' behaviour in Australia didn't amount to a breach of New Zealand law because it fell outside of the Official Assignee's jurisdiction. But he said it was a potential breach of Australia's Corporations Act which stops undischarged bankrupts from any country managing corporations or making or participating in decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of a corporation.

Bryers had permission from the Official Assignee to live in Australia where he's been since 2007.

Cornege said it was up to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to decide whether to pursue action over the potential breach but said Bryers' conduct should be taken into consideration by the court, either in terms of his potential post-adjudication conduct or in terms of his commercial morality.

Chisholm said Bryers had served longer than he should have because the Official Assignee had "sat on his hands" for two years in calling a public examination. That's despite Bryers crossing the Tasman several times at the assignee's request.

Chisholm said the Official Assignee had also failed to produce sworn evidence that proved Bryers was more than a consultant to Talos.

He said while there was concern Bryers could put the New Zealand business community at risk if discharged, he argued most people had heard of him and would make their own decisions on doing business with him.