It was already reported in several newspapers in UK.
Syuhan Nenkin was a private pension fund managed by “Zenkoku Kouri Syuhan Kumiai Chuokai” (the All Japan Liquor Merchants Cooperative Association (AJLMA). The member of the association is small and medium sized liquor sales merchants. The AJLMA invested 80 per cent of its total assets, JPY 14,500,000,000 (£70m), in the Invaro scheme via a Canadian firm which issued named “chancery bond” from February 2002 to March 2004. The bond is strictly risky as investment, so called structured bonds.
The bond was issued by the Canadian company, a Specific Purpose Company, which invested to Invaro, a Liverpool-based litigation-funding company in Briton. The firm’s core activity was lending legal fees and insuring lawyers to make personal injury claims in return for a fee. The lawyers were mainly acting in motor accident or miners’ illness cases. At one point, Invaro employed 200 people and had 80,000 claims on its books.
Invaro went into voluntary liquidation in June 2004 after trading for a little over two years. At that time key activities included lending and assisting individuals to make personal injury claims in return for a fee. At the time of liquidation the company was dealing with 80,000 claims. According to claims from liquidators, the company owes £85 million.
The association was one of investors worldwide, including hundreds of British investors. The pension fund became insolvency and stopped the payment since December 2003 and abolished the scheme in March 2005. Thus, about 20,000 members of the association have been left without a pension.
The members of the association filed lawsuits with Tokyo District Court and Osaka District Court. However, the chances of any money would be supposed being returned “probably quite small”. Japanese attorneys are going to visit to UK and investigate more of the incident.
