UT (Tax & Chancery) UT-2022-0000150 - [2024] UKUT 00254 (TCC)

Mr Neilly first met Mr Kalaris in 2016, when Aberdeen (later “Abrdn”) was considering investing in Saranac. Mr Neilly said:

“When Abrdn indicated its willingness to consider an investment, I recall the professionalism, fairness and transparency of the documentation relating to the business constitution, shareholder agreement and shareholder protections.”

He continued:

“When I agreed to join the Board, initially as an investor representative, I was heartened by the quality and broad experience of the Board of Directors Tom had assembled, his desire for strong governance and challenge and his utmost respect for the regulatory environment in which the business would operate. Recruitment, customer proposition and the operating environment reflected Tom’s belief [that] clients would expect, as a minimum, strong business ethics, adherence to regulatory discipline, service excellence and a best-in-class operating environment to protect the assets which they were entrusting to the stewardship of Saranac.”

Mr Neilly concluded by saying that Mr Kalaris “is a person of great integrity” who can be relied upon to provide “honest advice and feedback no matter the situation”.