Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson has announced the appointment of inspectors to investigate and report on the affairs of the MG Rover Group, including Phoenix Venture Holdings and MGR Capital.
The inspectors have been asked to examine issues raised by the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) in its report to the secretary of state and events leading up to the appointment of administrators on 8 April 2005.
The FRRP was instructed to look Rover’s accounts after allegations of financial irregularities following the collapse of the Rover group in April.
Johnson said the FRRP’s report on the published accounts of the Rover Group up to 2003 raised a number of questions that needed to be answered.
However, he said that as the FRRP has not published its report, coupled with the decision to appoint independent inspectors, the report would not be released.
“I have been advised that to do so would be prejudicial to those potentially affected by it and to the regulatory process,” he said.
“The appointment of administrators on 8 April was a huge blow to the employees of the company, to their families, to MG Rover’s suppliers and the local community. People want to know what happened.
“The public interest requires that the issues raised by the FRRP and developments after 2003 when the last accounts were published be investigated by independent investigators.
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“I have asked them to report to me as quickly as possible and in a form which will enable the report to be made public.
The Financial Reporting Review Panel was established in 1990 as a subsidiary of the Financial Reporting Council. The FRRP seeks to ensure that the provision of financial information by public and large private companies complies with relevant accounting requirements.
