The High Court has continued indefinitely an order directing two Dublin companies not to act as financial investment firms or to hold themselves out to be such.

On the application of Mr David Barniville for the Central Bank, Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday confirmed directions given by the Central Bank to James Bowen Investment Consultants Limited and James Bowen and Associates Limited, precluding them from acting as financial advisers until further court order.

Last August, Mr Barniville told the judge that, under the 1995 Investment Intermediaries Act, the Central Bank was the supervisory authority over investment business firms.

The High Court had, for a number of reasons, including failure to have a bond in place and for the furnishing of misleading information to the Bank, revoked authorisation permitting James Bowen Investment Consultants Limited to act as an investment consultancy firm.

Counsel said that last June the Bank had appointed authorised officers to carry out certain investigations and they had obtained evidence which appeared to indicate that unauthorised investment activities were being carried out by one or both companies. Counsel said that James Bowen and Associates Limited had not at any stage been an authorised financial consultancy company.

Both companies had consented to the court restraining them from acting as financial consultants until October 12th last or further by order of the court.

The matter came before the court on October 12th and was adjourned a number of times, with the restraining orders continuing.

When the case came before the court yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly noted he had made an order last August confirming the Bank's directions to both companies restraining them from acting as financial investment firms and said he would continue the order on a perpetual basis.

He said the companies had not filed any replying affidavit in the matter and there was no objection to the continuation of the order.

He noted that, in August, he had taken the view that the order was made in the interest of protecting members of the public who might wish to have dealings with the two companies and, in those circumstances, he had directed that the fact of the making of the order should be published in newspaper notices.

Mr Lyndon MacCann, for the companies, applied for a stay on the publication of the advertisements until a licence application by his clients was determined. Counsel stated that, whatever criticism the Central Bank had of his clients, there was no suggestion of any financial impropriety or of misappropriation of monies.

Refusing the stay, the judge directed that notices regarding the continuation of the order should again be placed in newspapers. He said the companies had submitted the newspaper notices should be confined to the newspaper section dealing with legal notices.

"I don't agree," Mr Justice Kelly said. He agreed with the Central Bank that, if the notices were to attract people's attention, they should get more prominence.

He directed the newspaper notices be published in a similar manner to that which applied to the notices regarding the initial order.

It was also desirable that a necessary modification to the advertisement should be a statement that, since August last, the company James Bowen Investment Consultants Limited had changed its name to Cojabin Limited.

The judge said the Central Bank had also sought directions regarding notification to clients of the two companies of the making of the court orders.

He had evidence of various attempts by the Central Bank to persuade the companies to write to their clients regarding the making of the orders, but this had not been done and it was now necessary the court should intervene so as to ensure protection of the clients. He directed that the Central Bank would dictate the terms of a letter of notification and that the two companies should write to their clients in the form of that letter within 14 days. A list of those clients who were notified pursuant to those directions must also be submitted to the Central Bank, he added. The judge also made an order awarding costs to the Central Bank against the companies, to include the cost of the newspaper notices.