People and Business: Heated time for receivers

WE'VE ALL heard of accountants "cooking the books", however I doubt if many people have heard of a recent House of Lords proposal that receivers should be microwaved.

On 26 January the House of Lords debated a motion to end the practice where an investigating accountant sent in to help a troubled company is subsequently appointed its receiver.

In support of the motion, Lord Montague of Oxford pointed out that "a Chinese wall is like a Chinese takeaway. One takes it home and puts it in a microwave. I suggest to noble lords that many of the receivers should be dealt with in a similar way."

Ken Baird, a partner with City law firm Freshfields, who passed on this snippet, added: "Possibly this is more of an argument for reform of the upper chamber than for reform of the Insolvency Act 1986".