The UK's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has banned five former executives of collapsed contractor Carillion, including two finance chiefs, for acting recklessly and failing to act with integrity in preparing financial information.
Richard Adam, former finance director, and Zafar Khan, his successor, were fined £222,019 and £60,228 respectively and banned from the accountancy profession for 15 and 10 years. Both had already faced fines from the Financial Conduct Authority for misleading investors.
Three unnamed senior accountants were also banned for between two and eight years and fined up to £45,000. The FRC said the men admitted misconduct relating to transactions, construction contracts, and a supply chain finance facility that distorted Carillion's financial performance from 2013 to 2017.
Carillion collapsed in January 2018 with £7bn of debt, causing 3,000 job losses and disrupting hundreds of public-sector projects. The FRC stated the sanctions reflect the gravity of the failures in preparing accurate information for a large listed company.
