UK court to ask Italy watchdog to set aside or vary judgment against Petrofac CEO

Jan 24 (Reuters) - The UK High Court of Justice has ruled Petrofac Ltd CEO Ayman Asfari was not served with a legal notice of charges made against him in Italy and will ask that the certificate of service relating to the case be set aside or annulled, the company said on Wednesday.

Italy's National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB) will have seven days following service by the UK court to apply to set aside or vary the judgment.

CONSOB last August imposed sanctions on Asfari, including a 300,000 euro fine, in relation to 2012 dealing in shares in an Italian company.

"I welcome today’s ruling from the High Court which confirms, as I have stated from the outset, that I was never served the CONSOB notice of charges against me, and consequently I was never given the chance to defend myself," Asfari said in the Petrofac (Amsterdam: PF6.AS - news) statement.

“I have always emphatically maintained that I have done nothing wrong," he said.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)