Lawyers representing Ireland’s director of corporate enforcement Paul Appleby are expected to pursue DCC’s Jim Flavin over a finding that he was in possession of price sensitive information when the company sold its shares in fruit distributor Fyffes.
DCC has been ordered by the Irish Supreme Court to pay Fyffes' legal costs in the insider-trading action, which will amount to around £10.8 million.
In 2005, after an 87-day High Court action by Fyffes against DCC, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy found that Flavin was not in possession of price sensitive information around the time the group sold its shares in Fyffes, at a profit of approximately £60m.
Fyffes overturned this ruling in the Supreme Court, but DCC, in a bid to relive itself of the responsibility to pay costs, said at the time of the share sales, no-one regarded the information as price sensitive - describing the breach as relatively unwitting.
However, the court said the general rules must apply and directed that Fyffes was entitled to the costs of the High Court and Supreme Court action.
Fyffes will now also certainly pursue a case against DCC for compensation, due to profit it made from the shares sale.
