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Avison Young wins court order to unfreeze NatWest accounts
The Toronto-based brokerage said all outstanding obligations to UK tax authority HMRC were paid, after NatWest locked its UK accounts tied to a winding-up petition over unpaid taxes.
Avison Young has secured a court order to unfreeze its UK bank accounts after NatWest Group locked the firm’s funds for failing to pay taxes, according to Bloomberg and Bisnow. The brokerage and advisory firm persuaded a judge on Thursday to lift the freeze that stemmed from a winding-up petition filed by the UK tax authority, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Avison Young estimated it owed HMRC more than £7.7 million, or about $10.4 million, by the end of July. Lawyers for the firm argued that, even though the companies had the funds to address the petition debts, they could not pay because the accounts were frozen. During the hearing, Judge Sebastian Prentis ordered NatWest to unfreeze the assets, saying the bank’s action had blocked Avison Young’s ability to pay what it owed HMRC. In an email to Bisnow on Friday, an Avison Young spokesperson said its finance team had been in regular dialogue with HMRC regarding the prior tax obligation and that the firm can confirm all outstanding obligations to HMRC have been paid. The dispute comes as Avison Young has faced cash flow strain since 2022, when interest rate hikes pushed real estate deal volumes lower, with European deal activity also affected by geopolitical disruptions.