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This is going to be fascinating about Sir Philip and BHS

Sir Philip Green and his wife face a demand for hundreds of millions of pounds to fill the BHS pensions hole after the regulator took unprecedented action.

The fascinating bit is going to be how much will they try to ding him for?

Because they are going to have to follow the law, not whatever fantasy Frank Field has in his head. That pension scheme was fine after the dividend. So it’s not that. The pension scheme has got a lot worse after he sold. So maybe he’s not responsible for that? The full £700 million is hugely influenced by BoE interest rates. Is he responsible there?

Just how much will he be dinged for then?

10 thoughts on “This is going to be fascinating about Sir Philip and BHS”

  1. Well, one thing’s for certain: a Monaco resident with the wherewithal to fund the best Counsel and a belief that his public humiliation by parliamentarians and removal of his knighthood is because he’s Jewish is not simply going to play ball.

  2. The rumour is that his exposure is about 300m, and his offer to resolve the matter earlier this year was not far short of that figure (270m)

  3. @ Martin
    The Pension Scheme is a creditor of the company. Company Directors must not deliberately run companies to the detriment of their creditors. If BHS sold property assets to Mrs Green’s companies and then paid most of the proceeds to her as dividends, one could argue that was asset-stripping to the detriment of creditors.

  4. What struck me was the difference – at least to my mind – between Green finding a mug to take the company on, and Green conspiring with someone else to take the company on. Since the wide boy he found was lent money by Green (or his missus) to effect the purchase, it sounds to me to have been a conspiracy (in lay terms; I’ve no idea if it’s a conspiracy in legal terms).

  5. @ Martin
    That is a decision for the courts – Frank Field has pre-judged it. I have some sympathy for Frank Field’s view but I am not a High Court Judge.

  6. And a high court judge – could that impact other pension funds with deficits? Like it appears many companies have?

  7. @ Martin
    Each case needs to be judged on the facts – most deficits are due solely to Gordon Brown’s mismanagement of the UK economy.

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