John Richards, who supervised the construction of a seriously underperforming £1bn (€1.6bn) portfolio for Unilever while working for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), contradicted evidence given by Carol Galley, MLIM's star witness, while under cross-examination in the Unilever case.

The Unilever Superannuation Fund is suing MLIM, previously known as Mercury Asset Management, for £130m (€212m). Unilever alleges that MLIM negligently took too much risk when managing £1bn for it between January 1, 1997 and March 31, 1998, under a revised mandate that included a downside risk tolerance for the first time. MLIM contests the claim.