Gerard Lee Brevan and the City Equitable Companies.

The article focuses on the collapse of the British firm City Equitable Fire Insurance Co. and its associates in February 1922 which led to one of the most significant actions in British company law. The case revolved around the culpability of the directors and auditors for neglect in permitting the chairman of the company, Gerard Lee Bevan, to commit fraud on a fairly impressive scale. The parties concerned in the case were able to escape penalty through the loophole of an exclusion clause in the company's articles of association, a loophole closed by Section 205 of the Companies Act 1948. Bevan, however was sentenced to seven years penal servitude for fraud. The article details the events leading to the collapse and the extent to which Bevan manipulated the resources placed at his disposal.