As International Adviser reported last week, the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands found two directors at the company guilty of “wilful neglect”, in relation to the collapse of the Cayman-incorporated Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund in 2009.
Stefan Peterson and Hans Ekstrom were each ordered to pay $111m in damages to the fund’s liquidators, in what was hailed as a “landmark judgement” by legal professionals.
After considering its evidence, however, the SFO concluded that there "was not a reasonable prospect of conviction."
Defending its failure to prosecute, the SFO said: “A comparison has been made by others between a court action in the Cayman Islands and the SFO decision to close its investigation.
“It should be pointed out that the Cayman Islands court action was a civil case where the burden of proof is lower than it is in a criminal prosecution. It does not follow that a ruling and award of damages in a civil action provides a certainty that a criminal case of fraud can be proved.”
