The NSW Supreme Court has convicted three former directors of GIO Insurance for breaching their duties during the course of AMP’s 1998/99 takeover bid for GIO Australia.

The NSW Supreme Court found Geoffrey Vines, Francis Robertson and Timothy Fox breached their duty to act with reasonable care and diligence on 11 occasions.

The case arose from the 1998 takeover offer by AMP for all the shares in GIO Australia. The GIO board recommended that shareholders reject the offer based on the formulation and methodology used to maintain an $80 million profit forecast for subsidiary GIO Re.