July 22nd - Central Bank tells the Department of Enterprise and Employment that Fidelity had informed the bank of a complaint relating to Taylor Asset Managers. The essence of the complaint was that a client's holdings had been sold and the proceeds of the sale were diverted without the client's permission.
July 29th - Officials from the Department meet representatives of Fidelity and are informed of a complaint made to Fidelity by a Taylor client on July 14th. The complaint involved a cheque for £93,000 which had been made payable to the client, but was diverted into a Taylor company, Rolyat.
July 29th - Department appoints Mr Martin Cosgrove as authorised officer to investigate the complaints relating to Taylor Asset Managers.
August 6th - Department representatives meet Mr Tony Taylor to inform him of their concern about the company, and tell him that Mr Cosgrove wants to inspect the company's books and records. According to the Department: "Mr Taylor responded positively but indicated that he wished to discuss the matter further with his solicitor."
August 9th - Mr Cosgrove meets Mr Taylor for the second time and gives him a list of documents which he wants to inspect. Mr Taylor suggests that the inspection of the documents in question take place at the offices of the company's auditors, Niall Byrne & Company. Mr Cosgrove arranges to meet Mr Taylor the following Monday, August 12th.
August 12th - Mr Taylor fails to appear for meeting with Mr Cosgrove, who is told that Mr Taylor is in Britain "for an unspecified period".
August 20th - The Irish Brokers' Association confirms The Irish Times' report that it had received two complaints relating to the company. The Department states publicly for the first time that it is investigating Taylor Asset Managers.
August 21st - Remaining staff at Taylor Asset Managers distance - themselves from Mr Tony Taylor. "The only investments on which question remain to be answered are those handled personally by Mr Tony Taylor who is out of the country and who has not made himself available for comment," the staff statement says.
August 22nd - The Department's authorised officer, Mr Martin Cosgrove, produces his interim report on Taylor Asset Managers.
The report has four central conclusions
(1) The company has a net deficit of £155,618, while the group has a net deficit of £241,710
(2) Client files concerning investments totalling at least £844,152 were deleted at Mr Taylor's insistence
(3) Funds totalling at least £706,558 were received from clients but not entered into any of the various Taylor companies' account systems
(4) The methods of doing business in the company "were not in keeping with those of a well run business".
