I suggested a change that would wipe out shareholders, give loan creditors a haircut and leave essential suppliers with their payments due intact because they were essential to the ongoing supply of water in the UK.
Renationalisation was the inevitable outcome of such a scheme, but so what? Privatisation has failed.
Now, the government has slipped out new legislation to tackle this issue. I had no idea it was coming, but they obviously read the runes of forthcoming water industry failure as I did.
However, as the FT reports:
The new law provides more options for special administrators to restructure companies that are unable to repay their debts and may make it less likely that the government is forced into renationalising water utilities.
They add:
The legislation contains provisions that will allow a water monopoly to enter administration, restructure its borrowings and then exit as a “going concern”. Under the current rules, water company assets have to be sold off, and the corporate entity liquidated, if they go into administration. The new rules would allow existing shareholders to potentially retain a stake.
Unbelievably, after the failure of the water industry, the government’s priority is to protect those who have created the mess that we are in.
Under the current law Ritchie’s plan is not viable. Because a failed water company (the regulated part that is, not the surrounding shells) must be liquidated. This change in hte law allows them to be administered, even flat packed. Which means that Rit6chie’s mooted plan is now legally possible.
So, Ritchie opposes the very law change that will allow his plan because he’s too damn stupid to realise this is what the law change allows.
. I had no idea it was coming
Oh the horrors, the government of the day doesn’t run every piece of new legislation through the Ely branch of the House of Lords.
Privatisation has failed.
Evidence please.
“… but they obviously read the runes of forthcoming water industry failure as I did”
The Oracle of Ely strikes again. A bit like the Oracle of Delphi, except less coherent.
@MotM25
A modern day Cassandra…. at least he thinks so
Murphy is, by qualification and membership, a professional accountant (subject of course to Van Patten’s doubts about whether he actually sat the exams).
It is a cardinal principle of that profession for an accountant to be objective and to practise objectivity in their work.
He’s so poisoned and blinded by bile, envy, bitterness, dogma and polemic that he is utterly incapable of objectivity and unfit to retain his membership of ICAEW. The evidence of this is in almost every one of his blogs.
BF
I welcome him proving his qualifications are legit. Bear in mind I think someone masquerading as ‘Richard Murphy’ did sit exams – it just wasn’t him! He was in the pub in the process of getting barred.
I am told by those on the know on these threads that getting hooked by the ICAEW is nigh on impossible – even gross misconduct can’t remove you, but by any standard he is unfit to hold any office or be a member of any organization.
I suggested a change that would wipe out shareholders, give loan creditors a haircut and leave essential suppliers with their payments due intact because they were essential to the ongoing supply of water in the UK.
This is the man who wants to force us to invest our pensions in his madcap schemes.
I’ve just had a quick look at Thames Water’s entry on Wiki and it informs me that amongst their biggest shareholders are 4 large UK pension funds. I can’t be arsed digging deeper but thanks to Brown’s reforms I expect its the same for the other privatised utilities.
Only Spud could wipe out the funds he’s got his eyes on for his own pet projects.
Stump thinking at its glorious best.
Pension funds invested in TopCo and in leveraged MiddleCo. Investing in OpCo debt means not getting wiped out as people still need water. Challenge is not being wiped out in the fallout from TopCo.
Our credit team tell me that’s not going to happen. The new law starts to make me think they might be wrong. Can’t be arsed to check though
Once a company has a ownership structure with more layers than a rainbow cake, you know there is some financial chicanery going on.
In the case of Thames Water, I really hope it is nationalised – almost 20% of it belongs to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (https://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/governance/our-structure). Even better if Mr Potato Head had some money in that scheme.