Something interesting came to our attention recently, fascinating because we have no explanation. So what are we talking about?
Checking Companies House we have established that Club La Costa PLC changed its name on 14th October 2020 to Club La Costa Limited and then on the 21st October 2020 once again changed its name this name to Jade Realty Limited.
Beneath is an extract from the Companies House records:
At the same time as the change of name, Club La Costa PLC changed its status. It was formally registered as a public company but was re-registered under the Companies Act 2006 as a private company.
This is an unusual move for a company the size Club La Costa. By being a Public Limited Company this creates credibility and confidence reinforced by:
- Operating under a stricter legal regime than private companies in many areas
- Higher share capital requirements
- Greater transparency (for example, in the required form of accounts)
- For listed companies, the indirect endorsement of having their shares listed on a recognised exchange
What UK company law points out is that it is far less onerous to wind-up a private company than a public limited company (PLC), especially if shares are listed and publically owned.
Now it would be blatant scaremongering if we were to insinuate that Club La Costa has made this move deliberately, when liabilities are the same whether public or privately owned and cannot be swept under the carpet with just a name change, but it does beg the question why?
Although we know the link is certainly tenuous and probably has nothing to do with the Club La Costa scenario, we know for a fact that a couple of timeshare resorts have certainly been playing games at the cost of their owners.
Together Anfi Sales SL and Silverpoint were involved in “creative accounting”, both of whom have had significant Spanish court claims lodged against them with the corresponding judgements delivered. The result, at least for Silverpoint, is it went into liquidation.
In the meantime, Anfi has been accused by Miguel Rodríguez Ceballos of Navarro y Ceballos and Eva Gutiérrez, of Canarian Legal Alliance (CLA); both being leading Canary Island lawyers, of moving monies from Anfi Sales SL to other parts of the group.
They both warned of the emptying of Anfi Sales SL accounts to avoid payments to clients who won their legal challenge. The balance in the accounts of Anfi Sales and Anfi Resorts, which in 2016 exceeded €10 million, were practically zero when investigated and it is because of this that the group has systematically refused to pay its debts voluntarily.
Having that nothing seems to surprise us within the timeshare industry and we are sure that Club La Costa has a perfectly justifiable reason for the name change and variation of corporate status. However this recent development is of concern especially, because; to our knowledge, there has been no open announcement of this action and no reason offered.
Between leading Spanish law firms M1 Legal, Canarian Legal Alliance and JLCA & AS there are millions of Euros owing in outstanding judgements against Club La Costa, one would hope that a repeat of the behaviour demonstrated by Silverpoint and Anfi will not happen again.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk