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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Modern times .
Big improvised sign on the Siracusa to Catania Motorway –
Big arrow pointing North with this written below – Germany / France / Belgium / Holland / United Kingdom / Denmark / Sweden / Norway / Finland .
MALTA MICK FGURA on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 12:58 PM
Afternoon all, apoligises for reposting….Flying out of Malta to Istanbul on the 9th Dec, looking for Hotel where fellow bhysi will be staying.. Safety in numbers and all that..Hail Hail.
Head for the james Joyce boozer in the irish Centre, loads of hotels to choose from and not far from the ground (20 min’s in a taxi) get a price before planking yir archie in the cab btw.
The new Metro runs over there but ive not got a clue how easy/hard it is that way.
Hamiltontim
Re last nights night shift
My moniker is my name as much as yours is.
Ya daftie! :)
BCW over the years I’ve come to realise that attempting to influence outcomes vis a vis Celtic is somewhat pointless. My feeling on cqn demographics is that we are a middle aged bunch who don’t really actively listen . I know that won’t be universally true but hey ho. Guys like TD67 are rather childlike and have a childlike need to defend those who run Celtic as if they were Celtic themselves.
All that leaves is trying to counter the boards propaganda that Paul puts out and people build myths around. Some of those myths are just basically lies and the reinvention of history. So I will come on the site and point out those lies and their reinvention of history. It’s not hard. It’s snooty in really. A bit like the made up nonsense that our new defender cost £5m. Made up nonsense.
As for not going to the same stadium. Correct. If I did I would b propping up a board of directors harming Celtic, promoting corruption and pushing a racist agenda against us. Why would I do that?
Just another wee casanraism. You know how Paul tells us we are the most ethical club in the world (stop laughing at the back) and we should be so proud of Celtic for giving money for the refugee crisis does anyone find it remotely ironic that it’s not actually Celtic giving the money but the Celtic support. So here we have the board claiming the moral high ground because Celtic supporters are donating money to charity.
Isn’t that a bit cringeworthy on their part?
Maggie
No hard feelings ya rocket :-)
ESSEX EXILE @ 2:10 PM,
Well that’s interesting… Thanks.
Did Liberty Capital Pay any or all the money if owed to Ticketus? Do you know?
Neganon2
You make the mistake that everything you opine is right, whilst TD’s, Paul67 etc are wrong………
The truth is always somewhere in between.
Right I’m off to watch Raith Rovers V Wraith Rangers
Essex Exile
Are you a Hun? :)
CQNWelcomeCSC
CHAIRBHOY @ 2:31pm – Sorry, don’t know what happened to the money once insurers paid it out.
HT
Am I on my own ?
I admire (mostly) what our board are doing but also love the Green Brigade, my biggest annoyance with Mr Lawell isn’t the £6m striker we don’t get, I think he should do more in backing the Celtic fans, Green Brigade and every other Celtic fan, not unconditionally, as there are always some fans who misbehave or act like eijits, but when the backing is merited it should be a given from our CEO
PATRICK27 @ 2:37pm – a fair question, but the answer’s a DEFINITE no.
Gerryfaethebrig what exactly do you admire about what the board are doing?
Essex Exile welcome and Hail Hail
I quite like the fact that Sevco are playing on international weekend, saw a couple of them waiting on their bus at the bowling ground I smiled inwardly and outwardly, lower league team playing on a day when even the championship in England don’t have a card
ESSEX EXILE @ 2:38 PM,
Okay, thanks again and of course welcome to CQN.
You’re not a beancounter perchance?
Hail Hail
BCW the truth is always in between. Really?
Neganon 2
Keep telling it like it is….the dinosaurs hate it.
some of the right -wing pish on CQN is pitiful.
Now…the “good” fans want to ban the GB.
GB cost Celtic money….aye, and how much did Celtic make off the back f the supporters.
Ive heard some nonsense…but that takes the biscuit.
Mussolini would love some of the posters on here.
HH
Gerryfaethebrig on 5th September 2015 2:39 pm
No CQN Coupon this week, International break.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
RS praising the Warbmeister’s use of loan players. But didn’t the Warbmeister say he only wanted players who wanted to play for “Rangers”? And loan players would be contracted to OTHER clubs, would they not…..?
Green man the fascism is growing.
That’s right..alienate thousands of Celtic fans….and ban the GB.
How far do the crowds need to decrease before you realise whats going on.
Some of you wont be happy till theres crowds of 20,000.
And of course….only the good fans will go to the game.
HH
Lennybhoy
Cheers,
just thought I missed it earlier, canny believe CQN couponeers are elitist and ignore the lower league teams !
Neganon 2
Wont be long now…there will be someone on advocating bombing and killing the latest…threat to the west.
IMO….what ye sow…ye shall reap.
You bomb and kill people…obviously the survivors will want revenge…in any conflict.
HH
Indeed green man.
We are going in ever decreasing circles.
Twentyfirstofmay, my pal has just got back to me. PG still runs the Lions bus.
I was a member 1983 to 1994.
I got my first mortgage in 1994 and our away games were sacrificed unfortunately as a result.
Neganon2. Keep telling it the way it is.
Question for BUTSYBHOY if you are lurking,
did you live in Castlemik in the mid sixties?
HH
gsu
Gerryfaethebrig
We’re not too far apart in our views. I do think it is negligent not to have signed another striker in the window but I’m not necessarily blaming the board for that as I don’t know who ultimately let it happen.
Like you most of my grumps about the board are to do with their dealings with the support.
Oh, and the Living Wage, don’t forget the Living Wage.
I mean..i don’t suppose it would make any difference to point out, how much devastation the uk arms industry delivers around the world…arming both sides in a conflict is indeed profitable.
This is the reality.
HH
Neganon 2 keep telling it the way you think it is.
Gerryfaethebrig on 5th September 2015 2:46 pm
Essex Exile welcome and Hail Hail
I quite like the fact that Sevco are playing on international weekend
*mcsleekit widnae have stood for that
GERRYFAETHEBRIG on 5TH SEPTEMBER 2015 2:52 PM
We have until this Season but decided to give it a miss this one. I have two trebles on all lower League Teams but no Scottish picks.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
The unforgivable things that the current custodians of Celtic have done or not done as the case may be
1. Took Celtic from a European force to European has-beens.
2. Interfered in player transfers and squandered a fortune
3. In cahoots with the SFA instead of suing them
4. Used Celtic PLC to feather their own nests and pretend they are Celtic supporters.
5. Attacked the GB
6. Encouraged the return of the Old Firm
7. Gave the erudite educated and honorable proposers of res 12 the runaround ad infinitum.
to me they are just fascist crooks who have taken us all for a ride under the auspices of some grandiose grandfather dermott desmond drivel who looks down upon Celtic affectionately as one would a pet dog as opposed to a pig for fattening or slaughter.
HT
If we had beaten Malmo (and we should have it wrapped up at Celtic Park) I think we would have said striker, even some Croatian boy, think he was at Leicester, lost interest o very we were out of the CL, totally agree we want the best but am afraid sometimes even nowhere near the best want us, the CL is massive selling point for our board, got a feeling Biton might be next years balancing of the books if we find ourselves out of the CL
(added that about Biton to annoy Dallas)
Tontine Tim
Radio Scotland made out that Warburton decided they would play, a team needs 3 or more players in international duty to ask for a call off, an afraid Taveneeer or Waghornio weren’t selected this weekend so Sevco didn’t have the option of not playing
Gerry, ha ha.
Nir ,or Bir Nitton, as I shouted out at last. week’s game, may well be our next player to go.
I certainly hope not.
Time to cut the grass. Oh the joys.
CQN Badges, get yer aCQN Badges here…………
https://goo.gl/photos/DtHXqC7jo4ry1CGi6
cqnbadges@gmail.com
All proceed go directly to Peter Lawells Bonus fund!!!
A worthy cause I’m sure you’ll all agree.
Only kiddie’.
All proceeds go to Help Shay along the Way.
That was just a wee gag.