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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
United Kingdom | Publication | February 2023
The Regulator has published its regulatory intervention report on the Carillion Group, which went into insolvency in January 2018. It has concluded that there were no grounds to issue a Contribution Notice or a Financial Support Direction under the anti-avoidance powers that it had at the time.
The Regulator’s investigation principally involved two strategies:
A further factor justifying the Regulator’s decision was its conclusion that if the 2015 and 2016 dividends had not been paid, directors could reasonably have used the cash to pay down debt rather than increase payments to the schemes. The Regulator also found there was no scope for it to issue a Financial Support Direction. As the whole Carillion group had entered insolvency, there were no targets capable of providing financial support to the schemes.
Comment
Would the Regulator’s current powers in relation to criminal offences have prevented these actions being taken, had they been in force prior to the insolvency? It is difficult to say given the debt burden.
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Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
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