Government begins proceedings to ban former Carillion directors

The government has launched legal proceedings to ban former Carillion directors from holding senior boardroom positions in the UK.

This action has been brought before the courts by the new business secretary who would like to see eight ex-directors banned from taking up senior management roles for up to 15 years.

Kwasi Kwarteng launched the legal proceedings, which he states are "in the public interest", stated the Insolvency Service.

Carillion was wound up in January 2018, after entering administration during 2017, with the Official Receiver submitting a report about the conduct of each director. The collapse caused thousands of lost jobs, making it one of the biggest corporate failures the country has ever seen.

Mr Kwarteng has decided it would be in the public interest for a court to make an order which would disqualify the directors on the grounds of their conduct.

A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service, which handles corporate collapses, said: "We can confirm that on 12 January the Secretary of State issued company director disqualification proceedings in the public interest against eight directors and former directors of Carillion."

The court proceedings have named eight former directors, including former chairman Philip Green, former chief executive Richard Howson, and ex-company director Keith Cochrane, who led the firm in the final months before its collapse. Two ex-finance directors and three boardroom non-executives are also named.

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