Bill Clarke case goes to Bahamas
Published:Wednesday | January 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Arbitration proceedings arising from the dispute between former Scotiabank boss William 'Bill' Clarke and the financial institution over his retirement package are to take place later this year in The Bahamas.
The Court of Appeal had granted a declaration to Clarke in October last year that there was an agreement between the bank and Clarke for the issue to go to arbitration.
Scotiabank had filed an application for leave to take the case to the United Kingdom Privy Council but, shortly after conditional leave was granted, it withdrew its application.
Clarke went on early retirement in November 2008 after being with the bank for 40 years. He served as president and chief executive officer for the last 13 years. He was not due for retirement until December 15, 2015, when he would turn 65.
Offer rejected
On July 28, 2008, Clarke was called to a meeting at the head office of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Canada, as a consequence of allegations of misconduct against him. A decision was taken at the meeting that he should go on early retirement and a compensation package of CDN$3.7 million was offered to him. Clarke denied the allegations and rejected the offer.
Clarke filed a suit in the Supreme Court on December 24, 2008, seeking a declaration that he and the bank were bound by an agreement to submit the dispute to arbitration for a determination as to what was a fair and equitable retirement plan for him, having regard to all the circumstances.
The bank opposed the application and said there was no such agreement.
Supreme Court judge Horace Marsh ruled that there was no agreement and Clarke took the case to the Court of Appeal, which ruled in his favour.
The outcome of the court's ruling in October 2009 was that Clarke would remain in the house and continue to keep the two motor cars which the bank had assigned him until the dispute was settled by arbitration.