OAMPS avoids court with extra NAB custom
Listed insurance broker and financial planning firm OAMPS has softened the impact of a court win against it by National Australia Bank (NAB), by agreeing to remain a customer of the bank for another four years.
OAMPS was a former shareholder in Idoport, the computer systems group owned by John Maco-nochie, whose $50 billion breach-of-contract suit against NAB was thrown out of the NSW Supreme Court in 2002 after piling up costs of $22 million.
Maconochie recently announced he would return to court with financial backing from a hedge fund, but OAMPS offloaded its 15 per cent stake in February.
However, NAB was awarded costs in the original decision, and although OAMPS’ legal advice was that it had no exposure to the Idoport litigation, NAB had indicated it was determined to test this assertion in the courts.
Rather than defend its position, OAMPS has agreed to pay NAB a one-off payment of $2.95 million, and consolidate all its banking business with NAB for the next four years.
OAMPS managing director Tony Robinson said while it was unclear whether the actual legal bills of a new case would have exceeded $2.95 million, the “time and opportunity cost of having this drag on” led the OAMPS board to make the settlement.
OAMPS will make additional payments if the deemed value of its banking business with NAB falls below $1.25 million a year.
Robinson said negotiating the settlement had given him a “very interesting insight” into how NAB prices its services.
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