On Monday, partners from both firms appeared before the joint House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and Work and Pensions Committee as part of an ongoing investigation into the £1 offloading of BHS to Retail Acquisitions by former owner Arcadia Group. Throughout the course of the proceedings, both Linklaters corporate partner Owen Clay and Nabarro partner Ian Greenstreet declined to answer questions put to them by the joint committees citing client privilege, provoking frustration in Labour MP and Work and Pensions Select Committee chair Frank Field. ‘I think it’s just too easy to claim privilege. I think it’s lazy and a cover up,’ Mr Field complained to Legal Week following Monday’s hearing, adding that ‘fee income seems to muddle people’s memories.’

Fee questions

Linklaters’ Mr Clay advised Arcadia Group on the sale of BHS, while Nabarro’s Mr Greenstreet was an adviser to Arcadia Parent company Taveta on pension matters from 2009 to 2015. During the hearing, Mr Field’s attempts to ascertain how much each firm had been paid for advising on the deal were repeatedly frustrated. The MP also criticised the partners and their firms for failing to identify ahead of the sale that Retail Acquisitions majority owner Dominic Campbell had been twice declared bankrupt. He added: ‘Don’t you feel responsibility? There were people paying you, presumably, very good fees and there were two lots of firms involved and neither discovered the most obvious thing about this person?’

Source: Legal Business