Macquarie rips the veil from Liberty

Ian Rogers
Macquarie Bank is seeking enforcement of a Netherlands court judgement in Australia that exposes aspects of the complex structure of the Liberty Financial mortgage funding business.

The Financial Review today reports that the bank obtained a temporary injunction in the NSW Supreme Court on June 1 to freeze the assets of one of Luxembourg-based Juno Holdings S.a.r.l, which it claims owes it $25 million.

Juno is an associated company of Liberty's CEO and founder, Sherman Ma.
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The matter is listed for a one-day hearing on July 8.

According to court documents including affidavits tendered by the bank, Macquarie alleges Juno and Liberty Financial, along with several other companies, are part of the same corporate group.

The newspaper reports the legal dispute between Juno and Macquarie Bank arises from a deal in 2004, in which the bank allegedly lent the company $US11.5 million via a note agreement and a strategic alliance.

Macquarie demanded early repayment of the note, which Juno agreed to, but Macquarie claims Juno never paid the money back and after years of negotiation has headed to the courts to demand about $25.5 million, the initial amount with interest.