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The MP leading the probe of BHS’s collapse has asked the Pensions Regulator if Sir Philip Green’s assets could be seized to plug the chain’s pension deficit.
Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, has written to the Pensions Regulator’s chief executive Lesley Titcomb asking if the body could acquire “assets other than cash” from “a person or company from which payment is being sought”.
“There is now nothing beyond limits as we understand it,” Field reportedly said, following the publication of the letter. “Of course [Sir Philip’s] yacht could be targeted.”
Field has been engaged in a bitter war of words with Green since his committee kicked off its probe into BHS’s collapse and its £571m pension blackhole. A joint report by MPs branded Green “the unacceptable face of capitalism”.
In his letter, Field also asks the Pensions Regulator if it could use its powers against individuals who are resident overseas or a company registered offshore.
Green’s wife, Tina, who is resident in Monaco, is the controlling partner of Taveta, the family investment company, which owns the Arcadia retail group.
The Pensions Regulator has already launched enforcement action against Green and other former owners of BHS – including Dominic Chappell – after failing to agree a deal over the pension deficit.
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