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Phoenix Companies

Volume 455: debated on Tuesday 9 January 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many calls regarding phoenix companies have been received by his Department’s enforcement hotline since February 2005; how many have been referred for investigation; and how many resulted in (a) disqualification of a director and (b) a successful criminal conviction. (113417)

It is likely that complaints regarding so called “phoenix companies” will be recorded as a complaint under section 216 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (reuse of a prohibited name after a certain type of insolvency). It is possible that section 216 may also apply to new businesses run by directors of other insolvent companies which have no connection with the activities of the previous businesses and consequently would not be considered to be “phoenix” companies. Section 216 applies to any director of an insolvent company, independently of any wrongdoing. The number of complaints received via the Hotline since February 2005 which relate specifically to section 216 is 10 and none have yet resulted in either disqualification or prosecution of a director.