Labour MP writes letter asking for a new Man City investigation after they were found guilty of 114 charges.
Liam Byrne, the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, has written to an independent financial regulator asking for a new investigation into Manchester City’s alleged misstatements in their 115 charges case.
An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. The club said on Thursday that they are appealing the decision, calling it full of “clear errors” in law and facts.
The commission said City made fake contracts that hid the true agreements, helping them to wrongly boost their income and lower their costs. City insists they are innocent and claim to have “irrefutable evidence” to prove it. However, the commission said their defense was made up after the fact to hide the truth.
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Now, Byrne, who has been an MP since 2004, has sent a letter to the chair of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The FRC is an independent body that oversees auditors, accountants, and sets rules for how UK companies should be run.
Byrne, who also leads the Government’s Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, starts by acknowledging the appeal process. But he wants the FRC to look closely at the original findings and explain what steps it can take right now.
He asks, “How could audits and rules miss alleged misstatements on this scale for nine years?” He adds, “We’re worried that these problems only came out because of media reports, not because of proper audits.”
If the findings stand, Byrne says it’s vital for the FRC to figure out what went wrong, if auditors were careful enough, and what must change to stop this from happening again.
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Byrne also mentions Carillion, a British construction company that collapsed in 2018. Its former CEO was fined earlier this year for knowing about serious financial problems but not responding properly.
“The Manchester City case raises similar questions,” Byrne writes. “Is auditing really challenging the accounts properly?”
He stresses the need for quicker investigations so everyone—companies, investors, and the public—can get answers when big issues come up.
He asks the FRC to explain what resources it needs to investigate the Manchester City case quickly and thoroughly, and if it currently has enough staff and funding.
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Byrne wants the FRC to outline what actions it can take now under its current powers, where its limits are, what extra powers or duties it might need to handle cases like this, and what timeline it plans for its next steps, including how the appeal might affect that timeline.