Financial regulator issues warning notice against former government go-to Carillion
The UK’s financial regulatory body has issued a warning notice against Carillion, saying the collapsed engineering giant and relevant directors acted “recklessly”.
Non-full disclosure
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said announcements made in December 2016 and in March and May 2017 did not accurately or fully disclose the financial performance of the company.
The FCA said in a statement:
They made misleading positive statements about Carillion’s financial performance generally and in relation to its UK construction business in particular, which did not reflect significant deteriorations in the expected financial performance of that business and the increasing financial risks associated with it.
The FCA said directors failed to ensure announcements for which they were responsible “accurately and fully reflected” matters. Writing
Carillion collapsed into administration in 2018 with liabilities of almost £7bn, leading to thousands of job losses.
The FCA said a public censure is proposed, not a financial penalty.
Read on...
In bed with the government
Writing on the collapse of Carillion for The Canary in 2018, Sophia Akram said:
Carillion issued three profit warnings in the past six months. The first was in July 2017, which triggered the resignation of chief executive Richard Howson. Even after this, the government announced it would award Carillion work on HS2.
It then issued its second profit warning in September 2017, announcing a £1.15bn loss. This did not stop it from winning two Network Rail contracts worth more than £320m. And a third profit warning did not stop it either.
But the government’s own guidance indicates it should be conducting financial assessments before procuring services. John Trickett, Labour’s Cabinet Office spokesman, says it’s government policy to label companies “high risk” if they issue a profit warning. So where are the contingency measures?
Whether the government did its due diligence or not is a question that needs answering. There are calls for an inquiry, and the cost so far to the public shows that it is in the public interest.
The government is responsible for this mess, and now it has to answer.
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.
So? the Carillion Bandits took off with the Money. What`s the FCA /Regulator going to do about it ? Fuck All.