Fra Phil Hays artikkel i YEP:
The Football League's members met in Derby on Wednesday to ratify new rules which, among other matters, will obligate clubs to disclose more information about the identity of their owners.
That particular change requires each of the 72 clubs to publish on their official website the name of anyone with an individual shareholding of 10 per cent or more. Previously, the Football League insisted that owners pass a fit and proper person's test, but agreed to retain their details privately.
Leeds United – a club whose ownership structure has been scrutinised for several years – pre-empted this regulation last week by issuing a statement intended to clarify the controlling interests at Elland Road.
Most of the information published was already in the public domain but the statement nevertheless outlined the complex way in which their shares are distributed.
Leeds United Football Club Limited is wholly owned by Leeds City Holdings Limited (LCH), a company whose shares are, in turn, owned by five different parties. Four unnamed stakeholders collectively retain 27.15 per cent of LCH, with FSF Limited – the off-shore firm which purchased Leeds United from administrators KPMG in 2007 – in possession of the remaining 72.85 per cent.
FSF's shares, meanwhile, are held by a trustee on behalf of three independent trusts. The trustee has handed two "management shares" in FSF to Patrick Murrin and Peter Boatman, on behalf of United's chairman, Ken Bates.
According to the statement, none of these three are beneficiaries of the trusts and all have passed the Football League's fit and proper person's test. It further reveals that "the management and control of LUFC" has been placed "in the hands of Mr Murrin and Mr Bates."
The explanation is extremely complicated but the important detail appears to be the fact that no individual owns, or stands to ultimately benefit from, a stake of more than 10 per cent.
Of the four other stakeholders in LCH, the statement makes clear that "none of these (hold) more than 10 per cent of the issued shares". It also says that "no potential beneficiary of the trusts or their immediate family may have rights to over 10 per cent of FSF Limited's shares in LCH."
Under the Football League's new rules, it therefore seems likely that the identity of these parties will remain confidential. The Football League failed to respond to a request for comment.
Ja, dette virker oversiktlig og fint ja....
