An appeal by Bridgecorp’s ex-Director Bruce Davidson has been discarded by the High Court. Mr. Davidson, who was a Director of six firms in the Bridgecorp group, was barred from being a director, promoter or manager of a business for two and a half years, when the group crumpled in 2007.

The group owed nearly $486m to investors in its debt securities. Parent Company, Bridgecorp Holdings was chaired by Mr. Davidson. His bid against the prohibition was turned down by the High Court in Wellington. He disputed that as a commercial lawyer, he was allowed to trust the managers and fellow directors for monetary matters.

Mr. Davidson had appealed that the ban should be put off till the other criminal cases pursue their course of action.

Though Justice Forrest Miller acknowledged Mr. Davidson’s high integrity, he said that directors should have a sound level of fiscal literacy, amongst other things.

Today, Miller said in a released judgment, “Mr. Davidson has learned a painful lesson and I expect that his trusting nature will not again betray him in a commercial setting, nor will he accept an office for which he is not fully qualified”.