26-year-old convictions could end insolvency practitioner Damien Grant's career

Thursday, 20 August 2020

Damien Grant said he had made no attempt to hide his convictions.

High-profile insolvency practitioner and Stuff columnist Damien Grant is battling for his career, after having his application for a licence rejected because of 26-year-old fraud convictions.

From September 1, a new regulatory regime means all insolvency practitioners must be licensed by an accredited body.

Those who are not chartered accountants, such as Grant, must apply to the Restructuring, Insolvency and Turnaround Association of NZ (Ritanz) to be allowed to continue practising.

But, it is understood, Grant’s application was first rejected in June. He was then granted a review, at which it was rejected again on character grounds, because of his historical convictions.

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Damien Grant will not be able to operate as a liquidation practitioner without a licence.

Grant has credit card convictions from the late 1980s and a fraud conviction from when he was 26 in 1994, for his part in a share-dealing scam. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and served 16.

A requirement of the new licensing regime is that an applicant is a “fit and proper” person.

Grant has operated his business, Waterstone Insolvency, since 2006 but will not be able to continue as an insolvency practitioner without the licence. An unlicensed person acting as an insolvency practitioner can face a fine of up to $75,000.

In a letter to clients, he said his firm had handled more than 700 insolvencies and grown to 10 staff with an “outsized reputation for tenacity and hard work”.

He said he had engaged Bob Hollyman QC to seek a judicial review of the decision in the High Court.

“The case is ongoing, but I am confident that I will ultimately prevail in court. At this stage, under legal advice, I am not able to comment further on this. Waterstone remains open and it is business as usual.”

He said he was supportive of efforts to ensure that practitioners were held to high professional standards.

“Personally, achieving these outcomes has been a source of considerable pride for me and my practice.

“I am immensely proud of my staff and team and of the work that we do. We have seen an uptick in insolvencies and expect more to come given the current economic climate, Covid.”

He said he made no effort to hide his past, and had spoken to the media about his convictions on several occasions.

He told Stuff: “I understand that Ritanz had a difficult task, balancing my previous behaviour with my current character.”

“I had hoped that my openness regarding my past and my work in the insolvency profession would be enough to tip the scales in my favour. However, it seems this was not, in itself, sufficient. The matter must now sit with the High Court, and as it is before the judiciary, I am taking my lawyer’s advice to remain uncharacteristically silent.”

Ritanz board chairman and PwC liquidator John Fisk said he could not comment on individuals applying for membership of Ritanz.