Nice Little Piece In The Mail Today

[BAP1872 138]

Certainly looking much more positive for us but I'll wait till it's signed, sealed and delivered before I celebrate.

Rangers administrators play down talk of deal with HMRC over debt

PUBLISHED: 23:11, 27 May 2012 | UPDATED: 23:11, 27 May 2012

Rangers will make creditors the pence-in-the-pound offer aimed at exiting administration — meaning would-be owner Charles Green will have to hand over a £3million down-payment on Ibrox.

And administrators Duff & Phelps are confident that, 15 weeks after the club was plunged into the abyss, the taxman will play ball in order to end the insolvency saga.

As Duff & Phelps prepare to resume court proceedings against the SFA over the one-year transfer embargo imposed for bringing the game into disrepute, and the SPL ready themselves for yet another mass meeting on newco proposals, Monday's Company Voluntary Arrangement offer marks the first serious step towards wiping out the club's crippling debts.

A final decision from creditors isn't expected until the middle of June but, already, Ibrox insiders are briefing that the main player, Her Majesty's Revenue (HMRC) and Customs, have been heavily involved in the detail of the CVA.

The tax authorities have played an advisory role in the construction of a deal that offers different amounts to a variety of creditors and are said to be relaxed about the impact of the so-called 'Big Tax Case' on the proportional pay-out received by the Revenue.

A source told Sportsmail: 'The decision with regard to HMRC will be taken at a very high level. But the mood music has been good.'

Administrator Paul Clark said: 'Getting the CVA proposal will be a major milestone and it's likely that will happen and be out the door on Monday.

'Clearly, we put the proposal together speaking to the various principal stakeholders and we very much hope they will view the proposals favourably.

'We hope HMRC will vote in favour because it's the best deal for the creditors but, until we get to June 13, we cannot be certain on that. We would not be taking this course if we thought it was complete folly.

'We have now brought the club to a point of sale where everybody wanted it to be, through a CVA process, which is what the Rangers fans wanted.'

The CVA letter will trigger a £3m payment from prospective owner Green, who still refuses to name more than a handful of the investors involved in his mystery consortium and has even kept some secret from the administrators.

Clark revealed: 'I have not met or spoken with all of them. We have seen a number of identities and we have been verbally advised of others.

'I cannot say we have seen the full list of everyone who will invest but I don't understand how that can be likened to a Craig Whyte situation. He (Whyte) had full control of 85 per cent of the business. But it is different if there is a group of investors.

'There are a number of backers we have already seen, some of whom we have seen their details in writing.

'I do not think Charles Green has ever suggested to us that he would be the controlling force.

'He will strive to have 10 per cent or 15 per cent of the maximum, which would suggest there will be nine or 10 investors.'

Clark also admitted that Duff & Phelps had not seen all of Green's money yet, although the administrator played down the prospect of a late withdrawal.

He added: 'If Charles Green did not proceed at all? We have thought about the what-ifs but we regard that as a remote prospect, so I am not going to talk about any Plan B.

'On Monday, we expect to be hitting the streets with a Charles Green-sponsored CVA proposal.

'We have not had all of their monies in yet but that is where we are looking to proceed.

Enlarge

'We would not have got to such an advanced stage if we did not feel there was more than a strong possibility of the CVA being approved.'

While the CVA proposals go out, the Rangers legal team will prepare to return to the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday, seeking to overturn the 12-month registration embargo imposed by an independent panel and upheld by an appeal panel, both appointed under the SFA's new disciplinary process agreed by all member clubs. Taking football matters through the civil courts will put Rangers at loggerheads with FIFA, whose sanctions prohibit cases being heard anywhere other than the Court of Arbitration for Sport — with sanctions recommended against any club breaking this agreement.

Despite the possibility of the SFA being forced to punish Rangers, though, Clark admitted he had not been aware of the football-specific restrictions on court action.

He said: 'I do not know if any of my team of lawyers were specifically aware of that. I was not aware of it.

'I do know that FIFA have a position where they look at the activities of individual associations.

'We are exploring all of the points on the transfer ban.'

Meanwhile, SPL clubs will meet again at Hampden on Wednesday to discuss financial fair-play proposals.

Special attention will be paid to the price of re-admitting any club who takes the newco route of administration, still an option for Rangers if the CVA is not accepted by creditors.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster has repeatedly tried to tread the line between promising that Rangers will receive no special treatment and bracing a lot of angry supporters of other clubs for the prospect of the Ibrox side being re-admitted without any punishment.

'There are all sorts of different twists and turns which could arise and I will not predict what might or might not happen,' said Doncaster.

Source

[BAP1872 138]

...and along the same lines in the Record

[Bears r us 30,794]

Thanks for posting, it looks promising, fingers crossed.

[Blue Army Faction 28]

Good articles, well worth a read, cheers pal.

[theiconicman 2,991]

SDM hasn't waived any money he is due from other companies? What a complete and utter scumbag.

[Rfc#1. 1,877]

Interesting read,thanks.

[Gaz92 966]

Still need to keep our feet on the ground - being confident in this situation may just set us up for a fall.