Football (Financial Transparency) Bill (HC Bill 316)
A
BILL
TO
Require a football club playing in the top four tiers of English and Scottish
professional football to disclose the identity of its owner, the identity of the
owner of its home playing ground, training ground, any intellectual property
associated with the club or a third party stake in its players and the identities
of outstanding creditors; to require all creditors of a football club to be
compensated equally should the club go into administration; and for
connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Ultimate beneficial ownership
A football club shall only be entitled to play in the top four tiers of English and
Scottish professional football if they declare to their Football Association,
League, and in public—
(a) 5the ultimate beneficial owner of—
(i) the club,
(ii) the club’s home playing ground,
(iii) the club’s training ground,
(iv) all intellectual property associated with the club, and
(b)
10where the ultimate beneficial owner of the assets under paragraph (a)
is a trust, the ascertainable beneficiaries of the trust, and
(c)
where the ultimate beneficial owner of the assets under paragraph (a)
is a discretionary trust, the beneficiaries of the trust as and when any
payment is made by the trust, and
(d)
15where the ultimate beneficial owner of the assets under paragraph (a)
is a trust, the names of the trustees, and
(e)
where the football club is owned by a supporters trust or community
group the club should provide to their Football Association and League
a list of any shareholders in the club.
Football (Financial Transparency) BillPage 2
2 Third party stakes in players’ contracts
(1)
A football club shall only be entitled to play in the top four tiers of English and
Scottish professional football if they declare to their Football Association and
League all third party stakes in their players’ contracts.
(2)
5A football player shall only be entitled to play in the top four tiers of English
and Scottish professional football if they declare to their football club all third
party stake in their contracts.
3 Identities of outstanding creditors
A football club shall only be entitled to play in the top four tiers of English and
10Scottish professional football if they declare every six months to their Football
Association and League the names of all outstanding creditors.
4 Football Creditors Rule
(1)
The football first creditors rule as applied in England is abolished so that there
shall be no preference amongst creditors except as set out in statute.
(2) 15In Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986, after paragraph 43 (6A) insert—
“(6B)
Where the company owns a share in the Football Association
Premier League Ltd or the Football League Ltd—
(a)
no step or action may be taken by any person to withdraw or
suspend such share,
(b)
20any contractual provision under which such share or any
rights exercisable in respect of such share is or may be
withdrawn or suspended or no longer exercisable shall be
void and of no effect,
(c) any contractual provision under which any sum either—
(i)
25is no longer due or payable by the Football
Association Premier League or the Football League to
the company which but for insolvency would
otherwise have been payable to the company, or
(ii)
may be paid direct to a particular class of creditors
30instead of to the company,
shall be void and of no effect.”
5 Short title, commencement and extent
(1) This Act may be cited as the Football (Financial Transparency) Act 2012.
(2) This Act comes into force six months after Royal Assent.
(3) 35This Act extends to England and Wales, and Scotland.