So you buy a business and then find that the entire structure and assets of company are subject to a police investigation, where it is alleged that the assets were criminal acquired. That’s a serious problem, but one which will take several years to manifest. Let’s call that Problem A.
Problem B is that you have also established that the business needs to raise cash. This is an acute problem which will manifest in a matter of months.
What’s the prognosis?
It could be 2018 before a verdict on Problem A, the criminal trial, is reached. If it’s not guilty, there are no consequences. If it’s guilty, the rightful owners of the criminally acquired assets can apply to the court to recover them. This doesn’t mean they will apply, but if they do, it’s highly likely that the court will make the award in favour of the rightful owners.
For our example, the rightful owners are creditors of a failed business, represented by a liquidator. It’s the liquidators job to get as much money for the creditors as possible, and in this instance, HMRC is the creditor with overwhelming influence.
There’s an added complexity. Although none of your directors are contaminated by the criminal investigation, there’s a concern that some of the accused are beneficiaries of shares in the company, or commercial contracts which the company has entered into. In short, the accused have left the stage, but they could still have a considerable financial interest in the success of the business, which may steel the resolve of the most influential creditor, HMRC. HMRC know such tactics well and would be reluctant to allow a convicted criminal to profit from their enterprises.
As far as Problem A is concerned, you have to allow the law to take its course and hope for a not guilty verdict. Should a guilty verdict transpire, you then have to hope to cut a deal with the liquidator (representing HMRC et al) to allow you to continue to retain title to the assets.
If the creditor was malleable, willing to come and go with you, this would be possible. Especially as the liquidator may have the opportunity of pursuing the professional indemnity (PI) insurance of some of the accused, who provided professional services relating to the transaction. Grab the PI money for the creditors and allow you, your shareholders, and the beneficiaries of your commercial contracts, to continue to benefit from ownership of the assets.
A great deal of uncertainty surrounds this, however. You would make it your business to get as close as possible to the liquidator. Make sure there’s no limit to the hospitality on offer, but ultimately, HMRC will decide how matters proceed. It may even be the case that PI money is pursued, and the assets are recovered and put on the market. There will, after all, be an eye-watering level of professional fees to cover.
Problem B is, as I said, more acute. Raising money for a business which is losing money and burning cash is difficult enough, but if there is a possibility the business has been built upon criminally acquired assets, the challenge is herculean.
The criminal trial may not conclude until 2018 (or later), and it could take a couple of years thereafter for the liquidator to petition the court for the assets and then dispose of them. In short, the assets could come back onto the market around 2020.
Problem B is for you to fund a trading deficit until 2018, then hibernate for a couple of years, and bid enough to buy the assets at auction in 2020.
In the short term all you can do is try to convince as many people as possible to become co-investors. Or put the money in yourself, of course (sorry, I know how you feel about that prospect). Then you could shower the liquidator with the kind of corporate hospitality illustrated in The Wolf of Wall St, and hope you’ve got enough credit with them to have them batting for you at the creditors’ meeting.
The prognosis? It’s not the fact that you are possibly trading with criminally acquired assets, or that your entire enterprise could be shut down with the drop of a sheriff’s gavel, that would worry me. There’s nothing you can do about that, so ignore it. The big worry is how raise the £25m to keep the lights on until you discover if you’re business’s founding fathers acted within the law.
Good luck with that.
This is an absolute minefield. No one is in control. Three years ago I suggested the best thing to do was to start from scratch at another location, this is the only way to proceed with certainty.
Share premises in Paisley, or Cowdenbeath or wherever will take you. Hope that you can carry some brand affinity (although clearly you’ll not be able to use any disputed IP, including brand names). Appoint reputable people to your board and get back to doing what you really want to do.
Behold to no one contaminated by the decades of misrule. Cut loose those who hold the onerous contracts. Allow the assets to come back onto the market in due course, knowing that by then you have all the customer goodwill you need to ensure there is no point in anyone bidding against you at auction.
The future will be nothing like the past, but at least you’ll have a future.
Celtic are the first UK club to react to the refugee crisis
“This is absolutely the right thing for us to do. Our club was formed by immigrants, many of whom had escaped the devastation of the great famine.” Tony Hamilton, Celtic FC Foundation CEO.
Proceeds from Sunday’s Jock Stein 30th Anniversary game will go to alleviating suffering of the refugees. The club will appoint a charity with expertise to ensure the assistance is productive.
I know we go on about the Foundation a lot, but it’s the most important part of our club, today and every day. Never let this change.
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Roberttressel -had never heard that Whiskey Remorse song before so thank you.
I’ll now bid everyone good night with something a bot more mainstream –
https://youtu.be/Ify_f6XoqMU
https://youtu.be/4jvnzFfQCk8
The Patriot Game
The Bluebells
thankyou(Uniargumentswon)CSC
Mags please take your misdirected anger and aim it elsewhere. HH
Jobo – it’s pure poetry matches with soaring melody. What’s not to love? Carry on that man….
Dallas…
I worked beside a good tim that drank in the same pub as Nicholas old man.
According to him, he followed his dad a taker,the tims in the pub would stand him a drink never to be reciprocated.
I just judge him on coming back to Celtic after Aberdeen and using his connection to get where he is, he has hardly said a good word about Celtic or the support… souptaker extraordinaire.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COAA5qlWsAEcuZF.png
what a team…
shouldhavebeenlegendsCSC
Gordon64 on 4th September 2015 11:35 pm
Misdirected? Split your baw sack i see.
Dallas Dallas:
If you think Timothy Tague would have struggled, how about a mate of mine, who rejoiced in the moniker Ignatius Flaherty?
Praecepta:
Lisa Fischer and old rockers clip – just brilliant!
Predictive text doesn’t like your name, btw!
There is a family in Mayo with 4 sisters. 3 days ago 3 of the sisters gave birth on the same day, today the 4th sister gave birth. What are the odds on that.
Magzurz ..
Why the hostility ? Can’t hate it that much .. You’re posting..
Do agree with you though ..
Seen an add for hockey equipment the other day .. Like aye .. We’re awe hockey mad in Scotchland ..
I’d rather he set up a crowd funder .. So the contributors paid for his time and effort ..
But, maybe he’s happy in his day job…
:)
p/s. They ended up with 2 boys and 2 girls/
Mags you are a lover of Shakespeare.
https://youtu.be/DthCywhpkdw
Padriag Pearse
Brought to me by two families from a housing scheme in Airdrie…a story that should be told too.
SkinniderCSC
Good evening Celts.
I’m naw too keen on this new look Cqn, it’s been impossible from my mobile and frustrating because with the same username and password I can access the new advert friendly website.
I long for the days when we logged on and discussed/ had the craic and everyone knew who the feck we were talking to.
Anyway Muchachos, how do I go about getting a signed book from the original holy goalie?
Vmhan
https://youtu.be/sQC8la3fVlU
One tree hill
movesmeCSC
Crowdfunding .. All one word .. Generic ..
I’ll be damned ..
Obviously, blackberry spell check doesn’t update :)
Gordon64 on 4th September 2015 11:45 pm
naw ahm urny
The lady doth protest too much, methinks
Ps that’s my first log on from a mobi,
Very frustrating but hey, if it’s a blog that’s moved into the modern world and the earlier bloggers are lost then that’s progress, innit (smiley).
B
IniquitousIV
Not often that a ‘so called’ backing singer goes on to win a Grammy.
A superb singer who only had one solo hit – she was a bit laid-back and shy.
Vmhan – YNWA Wee Oscar on 4th September 2015 11:48 pm
Heh mate there’s been no craic on CQN since 2011
where have you been?
https://youtu.be/Hvqgb1D6Opw
Union City Blu*
HH
Justin Currie is/was so underrated.
Roberttressel…
My da is sound of mind most times , sometimes I think maybe he is on the slip ,then my old dad comes back with a bit of fight.
It’s more to do he misses my ma, he’s lost without my ma, I watched him go up the stairs today and thought how old he looked and how his shoulders were hunched.
I keep trying to gee him up but for every up he will hit you with two down.
Anyways… Start playing two up front, we don’t have the quality at this time! To play one up front.
Probably will never have unless the sky/Bt bubble bursts.
Roy Croppie,
Great show as always.
Hope to see you in Dublin2016.
Night,
Clogher
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CN6U7YkWEAAFwEC.jpg
We’ve just scored in Lisbon
THINKABOUTITcsc
Macjay
I believe he was John Murphy on posh prizegiving papers etc so mibbees aye for Jack.
Dapper, slim man with grey hair and a thin face..
That should narrow it down :o)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CN_4x-xWgAExj_W.jpg
Jock
HH
https://youtu.be/DYp2LGKOF_M?list=PLze5jhu6M0TWT2OfPEi6H6YyYVT4oTLyR
The Boy with the thorn in his side
Prognosis for trading with criminally acquired assets
well you know it doesn’t really matter.
Its all a case of the integrity of the judiciary in the country in question.
I pauls case Scotland or England.
In my case India or China.
Say for example you establish a company in India.
You follow the rules.
You pay the taxes.
You do everything right.
Then the government either local or national decides you are a competitor.
Total corruption. Doomed.
In India’s case there is a recourse to apply the rule of law, whatever that law is, to your moral justification.
In India it works. In China it doesnt.
Why?
the judiciary in India are sufficiently separated enough to apply the rule of law irrespective of power, corruption and lies. Works occasionally.
China. No chance. they are absolutely corrupt.
Same in Scotland.
next?
On the fifth day of September
Gainst the Rangers club he played
From defeat he saved the Celtic
Ah, but what a price he paid.
RIP
Johnnie Thomson.
Corkcelt,
Sorry, but they are from Roscommon.
Born in Mayo, but from Roscommon.
Sorry,
Clogher
The Jam tomorrow night on sky arts. A must see.
Margaret McGill
11:29 pm
11.30 pm
It seems to me you post to the blog as if you expect an answer each time you educate us. Maybe you’re related to the host. Good for you.
Read five pages and no-one wants to talk about the legends game on Sunday. Fair enough in any case, I appreciate the club/foundation not pursuing us for more cash at Celtic Park this season The link with Dunfermline has worked out well.
I think it’d be good for Celts to be at the game for nothing other than watching our hoops on a pitch.
India’s unusual protests: Pink underwear, poop and snakes
RWE/ Macjay
When I attended that school, his first name was Mister.
Mags…
All governments are coming corrupt, most know that, it’s just in Scotland that a serious minority reckon they’re not corrupt enough to get them out a hole they created.
https://youtu.be/yaS3vaNUYgs
The Foggy Dew
mammothachievementCSC
The difference between the Germany- Poland game and the Scotland game was striking, literally. The first had 4 goals, thunderous shots, numerous attempts at goal, and great saves.
In Tbilisi, like Celtic in Malmö, we were utterly impotent, with the opposition keepers not having to make a single save of note.
A few years ago, we were one of only eight countries to qualify, in Sweden I think. Now, with 24 to qualify, we are likely to be on the sidelines watching England, Wales, Eire, and Northern Ireland.
What’s your excuse, Regan and Docaster?