Editor of Offshore Alert David Marchant first broke the story about the auditors’ report last week. ...

Mr. Marchant told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “Clearly, these regulatory actions in Bermuda and the US and British Columbia have serious implications for the LOM group. The worst case scenario is that the group loses its three licences in Bermuda and is effectively outlawed from doing business in British Columbia and the US. “The best case scenario is that they are successful in defending these various actions but even that scenario has a downside in that the negative publicity generated by the very bringing of the action is troublesome for the group and the seriousness of these actions is spelled out clearly in the 2003 financials.”

In his lengthy story published in the Offshore Alert newsletter, Mr. Marchant wrote that Lines Overseas Management “is refusing to provide information about allegedly illegal trading activities to its own auditor, as well as the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the SEC in the United States”.