The Equity Release Victims Association

Hello Charlie,

I would to add to your post that Adrian Church has indeed provided a sworn affidavit, witnessed by a Spanish Notary Public, confirming that N.M. Rothschild & Sons provided the product for the selected agents to sell.

With respect to Hamiltons (or as you mention Mr. Church) being instrumental in selling the Rothschild scheme, I fully agree with the first part for the simple reason that it was the Guernsey branch staff, and not the agents, who designed a product that was then made available to -presumably- over 200 people.

We have seen a similar modus operandi in Spain with banks that offered preferential shares and swap contracts to people who had no knowledge of what they were going for, although at a much larger scale (an approximate 800 thousand people were caught up here), but whereas the “Spanish” case had plenty of mis-selling, the Equity Release had that plus a more sinister element: Tax Fraud.

It was Rothschild responsibility to have ensured that this product was fully legal prior to launching it, and not the agents in my opinion who, as happened, placed their trust in a legendary 200-year old financial institution.

Finally, it is my understanding that Adrian Church was the Administration Manager and later, upon the departure of Peter Hardy from the company, the Client Services Manager. According to his sworn affidavit, his role entailed a back office function which involved processing the paperwork of completed cases and liaising with clients where necessary in an after-sales role. In a very few cases was he requested/instructed by the MD of Hamiltons, Dean Murphy, to sit in on his meetings with prospective clients, but at no time was he part of the sales process.

I hope this clarifies somewhat the position.