The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has temporarily suspended Cattles’ securities from the Official List on the stock exchange at 10:30 this morning.
The stock exchange said this move was at the request of the company pending notification of its annual financial report for the financial period ended 31 December 2008.
The embattled lender has over the past two months suspended a number of directors while an independent review into its financial affairs is being conducted.
The independent forensic review, established by the Audit Committee, is being undertaken with the assistance of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Cattles’ legal advisers, and Deloitte LLP, the Group’s internal auditors.
The board, however, has said it does not expect this work to be completed until the outcome of discussions with Cattles’ debt providers became clearer.
In a statement today, Cattles says these discussions are continuing. It added: “The Company is making every effort to conclude a satisfactory agreement with all the parties involved to secure the refinancing it requires as soon as possible. However, the Company has today requested an immediate suspension of trading in its securities pending publication of its audited report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008.”