The speculation in the legal world is that the Tranz Rail insider trading case will be a marathon, spanning years.
Lawyers point to the timespan so far, with a statement of claim only just filed by the Securities Commission, two years and four months after thelast of the contentious share trades.
They also note that the case is on largely untested legal terrain.
One issue raised by the commission's statement of claim is whether the three separate causes of action could lead to overlapping penalties if the defendants lose.
The first cause of action - for insider trading - names five defendants:
* Sir Michael Fay and David Richwhite's then investment vehicle, Midavia Rail Investments.
* United States investment fund Berkshire Fund III, of Massachusetts.
* Former Tranz Rail managing director Michael Beard.
* Former chief financial officer Mark Bloomer.
* Former director Carl Ferenbach, who was also a representative of Berkshire.
The commission seeks up to $33.3 million for the 40 per cent losses allegedly avoided by the five selling out. It also seeks pecuniary penalties, which can be three times that amount.
That leads to initial maximum possible penalties of $133 million.
But the second and third causes of action name Richwhite and Ferenbach for "tipping" by passing inside information to, respectively, Midavia and Berkshire.
Applying the same formula to the losses avoided by Midavia and Berkshire adds up to $101 million in possible penalties for the alleged Richwhite tipping - and up to $24.6 million for the Ferenbach tipping.
That gives a total of $258.6 million - but would include a doubling-up of the compensation and penalties associated with the Midavia and Berkshire sell-offs.
On the procedural front: the High Court at Wellington yesterday granted leave for the defendants to be served overseas. According to court documents, Richwhite is based in Geneva, Ferenbach in Massachusetts, Bloomer in New South Wales, and Beard is "current address unknown" in the United States. Midavia's registered office is in Belgium.
The defendants will have 50 days to file defence documents.
