STRATEGIC PARTNERS
August 6, 2002
BRISBANE, Australia -- Metyor Inc. (formerly Talisman Technologies) and Saracen Financial Services are seeking between $30 million and $500 million in damages after plans to launch a network of Web-enabled ATMs throughout Australia were allegedly sabotaged by the Bank of Queensland.
According to a report on news.com.au, Metyor and Saracen, both of which are based in the British Virgin Islands, are suing the Bank of Queensland for alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and breaches of the Trade Practices Act.
The suit in the Supreme Court in Brisbane also includes a claim for compensation for misleading and deceptive conduct by the bank for allegedly letting the two companies believe it was going ahead with a proposed joint venture when it had already decided against it.
Metyor, Saracen, the bank and computer company Compaq began talks in mid-September 1999 to introduce a new generation of ATMs, according to the Metyor complaint. There were plans for a fleet of 81 of the new ATMs for the Bank of Queensland, followed by another 210 non-branded ATMs across the country.
Lindsay Foster, the attorney for Saracen and Metyor, told Supreme Court Justice Anthe Philippides that emails from high-ranking bank staff showed the Bank of Queensland decided to sabotage the joint venture, after deciding to deal directly with Compaq at the end of August 2000.
"This evolved into a full blown course of conduct to extricate the bank from its commitments without incurring a penalty," Foster alleged.
