Exposure to European liabilities?, page-17

Guys, maybe I'm missing something here.

The above loan guarantees refer to the parent entity, not the consolidated entity. The contingencies for the consolidated entity are under Note 36 (not Note 33). I am not an expert in the accounting standards, but the fact that there is no matching contingent liability in Note 36, would indicate to me that the above $13m relates inter-company guarantees, which has nothing to do with any contingencies wrt the former European operations (which are after all no longer subsidiaries of the parent).

In fact, under Note 36 (contingent liabilities of the consolidated entity) it is very clearly stated that any potential liabilities (if any), with respect to the former European operations, are "unascertainable". As such, no actual monetary amount has been specified.

Now I am sure that this statement is true (ie, any future liability remains an unknown). However, what I am also sure is true, is that the company will have received sufficient legal advice to have formed a view about the likely possibility of a future liability and magnitude of such.