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

Mr Kalaris said in his witness statement that his reply to Q1 had been both honest and candid, because he had “interpreted that question as asking who had come up with the idea of the ASA and not as asking why the ASA was entered into”.

However, as Mr Stanley pointed out in cross-examination, that explanation is inconsistent with the reply Mr Kalaris actually gave. He did not say “It wasn’t my idea” or “I didn’t draft the document”. Instead, he initially said: “I don’t believe I have any understanding or knowledge of the genesis” and then there were two paths, the capital raising and the strategic relationship.

Mr Stanley suggested to Mr Kalaris that he had in fact correctly understood Q1 as meaning “how did it happen”, and Mr Kalaris in terms agreed, saying:

“…the idea about the genesis of this that I was trying to express at the time was that it was part of a longer term strategic positioning for the institution in the region and that I felt that that in and of itself made the advisory service arrangement, the ASA, legitimate and fit for purpose.”

In re-examination, Mr Kalaris said that at the time of the 2013 Interview he had understood the word “genesis” to have two meanings, the first being the origin of the ASA itself, and the second being the origin of the document setting out the ASA.