THE High Court yesterday agreed to wind up the company of Taylor Asset Managers Ltd and to appoint accountant Mr Patrick McSwiney, of BDO Simpson Xavier, as provisional liquidator, pending a further hearing next Wednesday.

The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, petitioned the court for the winding up following a report on the affairs of the company from an authorised officer of the Department, Mr Martin Cosgrove, which he received on Thursday.

The court heard that clients funds amounting to £1,550,610 were unaccounted for, and the company was insolvent to the amount of £155,618.

It also beard that the principal, Mr Tony Taylor, was abroad for "an unspecified period" and could not be contacted.

Mr Donal O'Donnell SC, who represented the Minister, told the court that the Minister had the power under the 1995 Investment Intermediaries Act to appoint an "authorised officer" to investigate a company.

The Central Bank had been informed that a British firm of in vestment fund managers with which Taylor Asset Managers was linked, Fidelity Investment Services, had received a complaint about the company.

It was alleged that a cheque for £93,000, payable to an investor, had been diverted into a company called Robyat. Last July 29th, the Minister appointed Mr Cosgrove as the authorised officer.

According to Mr Cosgrove's affidavit, he met Mr Taylor on August 6th and again on August 9th. At this meeting he gave him a list of the documents he required and arranged to meet him in the office of Mr Taylor's accountant on August 12th.

Mr Taylor failed to keep this appointment and Mr Cosgrove ascertained that he had departed for the United Kingdom for "an unspecified period".

The solicitors acting for Taylor Asset Managers told him they would not make available documents which predated the Investment Intermediaries Act, enclosing a senior counsel's opinion in support of this position.

The Department received contrary advice. All queries were then dealt with by Ms Emer Tansey in the company's office, who was very helpful.

Mr Cosgrove formed the view Mr Taylor "was unlikely to return in the near future", as he had sold his car, and his wife had asked the receptionist to mind the dog.

Ms Tansey told him that Mr Taylor had asked her on August 6th last to delete certain client files. She gave information on these files to him from memory, and the money involved was £844,152.

He discovered there were also clients from whom money was received, but there was no record of where the investment was made, and they were unable to trace the whereabouts of these investments, which amounted to £704,556.

He met a number of clients whose investments cannot be traced. The files of the people with whom Mr Taylor dealt personally were not in the office.

Mr Cosgrove found that there was an account with Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc in the Isle of Man. However, he was told by the bank on August 21st that the maximum in that account was £2,000.

There were also a number of accounts there in the names of clients and a company account in the Royal Bank of Canada in Jersey. The balance here was £1,889. In 1995, the balance in this account was £307,340.

He recommended seeking the appointment of a provisional liquidator and that two other companies in the group, Taylor Integrated Planning Services Ltd and Mecagold Investments Ltd, be brought to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners so that steps could be taken to seek their liquidation.

The company Taylor Asset Managers was insolvent to the amount of £155,618, and the group was insolvent to the amount of £241,710.

Appointing a liquidator to Taylor Asset Managers and other companies in the group would "facilitate greatly the investigation of the affairs of the company and other companies in the group and protect investors' funds".

The Minister's petition, based on this affidavit, sought the liquidation on the grounds of the insolvency of the company and the group; the fact that client files relating to funds totalling £844,152, had been deleted; that funds totalling £704,556 had been received and not entered into the company's accounting system; and that its methods of doing business "were not those of a well run company".

He sought a provisional liquidator to safeguard clients funds and to "lift the veil of client confidentiality which is preventing information being provided by Fidelity, the Anglo Irish Bank in the Isle of Man and the Royal Bank of Canada in Jersey".

Mr Justice Barr granted the petition, and appointed Mr McSwiney as provisional liquidator to "take such steps as are necessary to preserve the assets of the company and investor funds within and outside the State". He fixed Wednesday next as the date for a full hearing.