Statement from Eric Watson and Mark Hotchin
On 25 March 2014 Mr Sheppard settled our very substantial defamation claim against him and he retracted and expressed
regret for incorrect inferences in media statements made by him. We were very pleased indeed with the terms of
settlement.
Having just settled our claim, Mr Sheppard has recently issued a statement inferring that evidence produced by him in
the defamation proceeding could be of interest to the regulators who have investigated the affairs of Hanover. This is
nonsense. None of the evidence produced by Mr Sheppard is of any relevance to the matters at issue in the FMA proceeding
against Hanover directors or to the regulatory investigation conducted by the SFO. If it was, no doubt Mr Sheppard would
have supplied it to the regulators years ago (particularly as Mr Sheppard is an Associate Member of the FMA).
We are completely untroubled by the prospect of the regulators seeing the irrelevant and tendentious evidence produced
by Mr Sheppard in an attempt to justify his incorrect and defamatory media statements about us.