Genworth issues statement on UK court approval of Banco Santander appeal request

Genworth (GNW) issued a statement following the UK Court of Appeal’s decision to grant Santander’s (SAN) request for permission to appeal the High Court’s July 25 ruling in favor of certain companies in the AXA group regarding liabilities tied to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance policies. The company said, “At issue were losses incurred from mis-selling complaints for PPI underwritten by the claimants, who were acquired from Genworth in 2015. The policies were distributed by a company acquired by Santander in 2009. In the July 25 judgment and order, the High Court found Santander liable for the claimants’ losses and awarded the claimants approximately GBP 680 million in damages, interest, and costs. Santander subsequently applied for permission to appeal, and yesterday the Court of Appeal granted that request. The case will now proceed to a determination by the Court of Appeal which is expected to take approximately 12 to 18 months. Under prior agreements between, amongst others, Genworth and the claimants, Genworth is entitled to a share of any funds the claimants recover from third parties in relation to PPI-related losses. As previously shared, any potential litigation recoveries have not been factored into Genworth’s capital allocation plans. Any proceeds received will be deployed in line with Genworth’s capital allocation priorities: investing in growth through CareScout, returning capital to shareholders through its buyback program, and opportunistically reducing debt.”