MPs blast Thomas Cook bosses' rewards for failures, and demand bonus clawbacks – as it happened

Graeme Wearden

from Economics | The Guardian on 2019-10-15 16:28 (#4SJRN)

BEIS committee blasts management failures for the collapse of the world's oldest travel company, and urges bonuses to be clawed back

5.28pm BST

Time for a recap:

A tragedy, though, speaks of something that is out of your hands.

I don't think this was out of the hands of the company. On the contrary, I would say that that the collapse of Thomas Cook was due to the decisions of the board, including you, Mr Meysman.

.@CommonsBEIS chair @RachelReevesMP to Thomas Cook execs: "the fact some staff are here today in their uniforms speaks to their commitment to do your company proud &you should reflect on what you can do to put something back&try to say sorry to people whose jobs taken from them"

4.50pm BST

The FTSE 250 index has closed at its highest level in a year, as traders cling onto hopes of a Brexit breakthrough.

Energy, consumer goods and services companies, banks and utilities all led the rally.

4.48pm BST

Hold that optimism!

BREAKING: Taoiseach says gap is "still quite wide," particularly on the issue of customs.

4.30pm BST

The Guardian's reporting that the UK has made a key concession, that in principle that there will be a customs border down the Irish Sea after Brexit.

4.26pm BST

EU officials are now downplaying talk of a Brexit breakthrough......

BREXIT: SENIOR EU OFFICIAL SAYS REPORT OF IMMINENT BREXIT DEAL "WAY TOO PREMATURE", SENIOR EU DIPLOMAT CALLS IT "SPIN"

4.06pm BST

Shares in banks and house-builders are rising very sharply too in late trading.

Bloomberg's claim that negotiators are 'closing in' on a draft deal has sent Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group up by at least 6.5%.

3.56pm BST

This sudden burst of Brexit optimism has also lifting shares in UK-focused companies.

The FTSE 250 index has surged by 1.8%, to a one-year high.

3.51pm BST

Back in the markets, the pound has suddenly jumped to its highest level in nearly four months.

Sterling has gained one and a half cents to $1.275 for the first time since 25 June, after Bloomberg reported that the UK and the EU were close to a last-minute draft Brexit deal.

Sterling has spiked on a headline that EU and UK negotiators are closing in on a draft Brexit deal pic.twitter.com/JzHqwdAa0m

U.K. and European Union negotiators in Brussels are closing in on a draft Brexit deal with optimism that there will be a breakthrough before the end of Tuesday, according to two EU officials, Bloomberg News reports.

Any draft legal text will hinge on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes he has the support of the U.K. Parliament, with the backing of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party crucial.

3.34pm BST

Q: Thomas Cook's CEO spoke to five government ministers in the run-up to its collapse, but none of them were from the British government. Shouldn't you or Grant Shapps have met the company?

Andrea Leadsom says that transport secretary Shapps did speak to the company in September. He also had to build an airline 'from the ground up' to bring holidaymakers home, she adds.

3.30pm BST

Q: Did any officials from the business department meet with Thomas Cook in the run-up to its collapse?

Leadsom says there was "significant engagement", yes, looking at what needed to be done in the event of its failure.

3.26pm BST

Q: Were the plans submitted by Thomas Cook to government on 17th September (a week before it collapsed) compliant with state aid rules?

All government decisions are compliant with state aid rules, replies Leadsom smoothly.

3.22pm BST

Andrea Leadsom's top civil servant, permanent secretary Alex Chisholm, takes the controls.

He tells Rachel Reeves that contingency plans were drawn up across Whitehall with a co-ordinated plan, in case Thomas Cook collapsed.

There were talks with the government about what they could do to help.

The government decided not to intervene with a financial bailout. It felt it was not a situation that was viable and sustainable....

3.15pm BST

With excellent timing, Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom is in front of the BEIS committee, to discuss her department's work.

Thomas Cook isn't officially on the agenda, but chair Rachel Reeves makes it the first order of business!

3.04pm BST

The Press Association have spoken to some of Thomas Cook's former staff, and it's fair to say they're not impressed by this morning's performance.

"We were consistently told that everything was okay - 'everything was going to be fine, it's all going through, everything's going to be fine'."

"The fact Peter Fankhauser didn't do anything to contact any government minister, that's hard.

"[Thomas Cook executives] should never be on the board of any company again."

"Even on the Saturday before it went under we got an email saying 'It's going to be fine, business as usual, there's going to be a little bit of noise in the media but it's going to be fine'."

2.47pm BST

Speaking of Brexit... the pound has been jittery today after Britain was given a midnight deadline to make new concessions to get a deal done.

Our Brussels bureau chief Daniel Boffey explains:

Michel Barnier has set Boris Johnson a midnight deadline to concede to EU demands and agree to a customs border in the Irish Sea or be left with nothing to take to the Commons.

According to sources, the EU's chief negotiator told ministers that, as it stood, there was little prospect of a deal being signed off by leaders at a summit on Thursday, before a special sitting of the UK parliament on Saturday.

2.38pm BST

The IMF's chief economist, Gina Gopinath, has predicted that a no-deal Brexit would cut the size of the UK economy by 3%.

IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath on Brexit: "If there's a no deal Brexit, that would reduce the level of GDP in UK by about 3% over the long run. And between 3-5% in the short run - depending on how disruptive."

2.22pm BST

Another clip from this morning's hearing:

Former #ThomasCook CEO says he is "deeply sorry that we couldn't save this iconic brand..." and wishes @HaysTravel well in their takeover of 555 high street stores.

Watch Peter Fankhauser answering questions from @RachelReevesMP here.

Read more: https://t.co/8g2kQWohrt pic.twitter.com/DxYqoa8lx6

2.17pm BST

Just in: The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecasts.

The Fund now expects global growth to be 3% in 2019 - down from 3.6% last year and a 0.3 percentage point cut from its April forecast.

2.07pm BST

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour's Shadow Business Secretary, has accused the government of dereliction of duty, over the collapse of Thomas Cook last month.

She's appalled to hear today that no ministers spoke directly with the company in its final days, although tourism ministers from Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey were all in touch (as explained earlier in this blog).

"There has been a clear dereliction of duty by the government.

"It is shameful that ministers failed to make contact with Thomas Cook at such a vital time when other international governments were stepping in, and failed to examine the excessive bonus culture when it was very publicly facing difficulties.

1.56pm BST

Reeves 1-0 Meysman.....

There are bad answers and then there is this: when asked why Thomas Cook collapsed, the Chairman answered: "Good question". The Board doesn't seem to comprehend what has happened. pic.twitter.com/GGbGVAUO2Z

1.53pm BST

BEIS committee member Anna Turley MP is appalled to hear that no government ministers spoke to Thomas Cook in its final days (as we heard earlier)

This was the most jaw-dropping moment of this morning's session. Not a single government minister spoke to the CEO of Thomas Cook as the company went into crisis. Appalling. Will be demanding answers from the Business Secretary this afternoon. @CommonsBEIS https://t.co/RboR9mfOQJ

1.51pm BST

Here's a great clip of the BEIS committee putting Thomas Cook's bosses on the spot:

i "What is the position of Thomas Cook?"

i "It no longer exists"

i "Why not?"

i "That's a good question"

Thomas Cook's former chairman Frank Meysman is challenged by MPs about why the company went busthttps://t.co/xtMWJ8JihW pic.twitter.com/Pf2fiYaHxT

1.47pm BST

BEIS committee member Peter Kyle is discussing this morning's hearing on Sky News now.

He says MPs are going to "go very deep" in its inquiry into Thomas Cook (they'll hear from its auditors next week, plus former CEOs Harriet Green and Manny Fontenla-Novoa).

1.33pm BST

Yahoo Finance have also written about the heavy criticism dumped on the heads of Thomas Cook's ex-board.

They say:

Rachel Reeves, chair of the the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee, on Tuesday called Thomas Cook chairman Frank Meysman "deluded" about the state of the business before its collapse.

"Frank Meysman talked about the tragedy that happened on that Sunday in September when the company went out of business - tragedy, though, speaks of something that is out of your hands," Reeves said.

Second take on the #ThomasCook inquiry - @RachelReevesMP blasted "deluded" chairman Frank Meysman for failing to take responsibility for collapse https://t.co/si6JPkn980

1.31pm BST

Rachel Reeves has spoken to Sky's Paul Kelso outside Portcullis House, and repeated her call for Thomas Cook's board to hand back some of their pay.

Fresh from the Committee hearing @RachelReevesMP tells @pkelso that #ThomasCook's board "have got to take some responsibility... hold their hands up and give some of their money back". pic.twitter.com/EDAFOFuQVA

1.30pm BST

Peter Fankhauser faced fresh questions about his bonuses as he left today's hearing, from journalists waiting outside Portcullis House in Westminster.

Thomas Cook's former CEO didn't say much new, beyond repeating that he won't make any decision today on whether to hand back some of his pay, before being pursued into a waiting taxi in a flurry of microphones, TV cameras and snappers.

NEW: I tried to ask former Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser if he would give back the 500,000 bonus he didn't deserve.

Mr Fankhauser said he will "consider what's right but "won't decide today."

He says this in front of furious Thomas Cook ex-employees.#ThomasCookcollapse pic.twitter.com/9LNLifTIvA

1.16pm BST

BALPA, the pilots' union, has criticised Peter Fankhauser and crew for their performance before the BEIS committee today.

BALPA General Secretary, Brian Strutton, says:

"It is right that those at the top of Thomas Cook are held to account for the company's collapse. Sadly, today, in response to excellent questioning by the committee, we heard lots of obfuscation, and precious little remorse from executives.

"We also place significant blame with the UK Government who could have backed a temporary bridging facility to keep this company going, saving the thousands of jobs which have been lost.

It is right that those at the top of Thomas Cook are held to account for the company's collapse.

Sadly, today, in response to excellent questioning by @CommonsBEIS , we heard lots of obfuscation, and precious little remorse from executives.https://t.co/41XMBJUuPH

1.14pm BST

Here's The Times' take on the Thomas Cook hearing:

Bosses of Thomas Cook were "rewarded for failure" after attempting to hide the true scale of the company's losses as it teetered on the brink of collapse, MPs said today.

Members of the tour giant's board were strongly criticised today as they were hauled before MPs for the first time since the 178-year-old firm was placed in compulsory liquidation last month.

Thomas Cook managers have been accused by MPs of attempting to effectively massage the books over eight years by withholding 1.8 billion-worth of spending from its underlying balance sheet https://t.co/fRpaHmdQnC

12.53pm BST

Mark Carney added that that some people in the financial markets will make money whichever direction Brexit takes.

The governor told the Treasury committee (on a busy morning for committees) that:

"On no-deal some people will become wealthier as a consequence of that, yes. Others will become poorer - they [winners] will be outnumbered by the number who become poorer."

"This will not be like social media. This will not be a case where something gets up and starts running and then the system tries to figure out after the fact how it's going to regulate it.

"It's either going to be regulated properly, overseen properly, or it's not going to happen."

12.48pm BST

While the BEIS committee was eviscerating Thomas Cook's failures, Bank of England governor Mark Carney was being quizzed about climate change.

This continued from his comments in our exclusive interview at the weekend.

"Policy is not yet consistent with stabilising temperatures below 2c. There are some companies out ahead, either because of their stakeholders, or because they're anticipating that that will change. But there are others that are waiting for the policies to adjust"

12.42pm BST

Here's a snap summary of the key points from today's blistering inquiry:

Takeaways from first hearing of MPs' Thomas Cook inquiry:-

- Directors say they proposed a rescue plan costing taxpayers less than the collapse. No10 knew of it. Govt refused.

- MPs savage execs for failures including unrealistic accounting.

- CEO won't commit to repay bonus.

Also, MPs were incredulous at the lack of engagement from minister with Thomas Cook in the week leading up to its collapse.

12.29pm BST

Finally, Rachel Reeves MP chastises the former Thomas Cook bosses for their failure to run the company properly, or to show dignity at today's inquiry.

A travel company is a simple business at heart, the BEIS committee chair says.

Give back some of the huge rewards that you have not earned, Mr Peter Fankhauser, but you have received.

12.25pm BST

Rachel Reeves rounds the session up, with a scathing, magisterial dismissal of some of the excuses we've heard this morning.

A tragedy, though, speaks of something that is out of your hands.

I don't think this was out of the hands of the company. On the contrary, I would say that that the collapse of Thomas Cook was due to the decisions of the board, including you, Mr Meysman.

They do your company proud, and you should reflect, Mr Fankhauser, what you can do to put something back and say sorry to the people whose jobs you have taken and whose holidays you have ruined.

12.02pm BST

Anna Turley MP turns to pensions.

Q: How is it fair that Peter Fankhauser got a pension contribution of 30% of his salary?

11.55am BST

BEIS committee chair Rachel Reeves circles back to the pay question -- how much of the 20m of board bonuses paid out in the last five years be clawed back?

Warren Tucker says that Peter Fankhauser received 1.7m in bonuses. One third has been lost, and the clawback procedures means the rest of the 2017 bonus could be clawed back, if the liquidator decides it is appropriate.

11.45am BST

Back in the Grimond Room, the BEIS committee want to know whether Thomas Cook accepts it shouldn't have paid such large bonuses.

Q: With hindsight, have you learned anything or would you have done the same thing?

11.37am BST

Catherine McKinnell, the temporary chair of the Treasury committee, asks Mark Carney about financial firms betting on the outcome of Brexit on the currency markets.

It's a politically-charged question for the governor - given Boris Johnson has received political donations from hedge fund bosses who back Brexit.

"There will be some financial institutions and maybe some individuals associated with those institutions who have correctly predicted, or got lucky, on which direction sterling ends up going. And they will potentially make a lot of money."

11.36am BST

Elsewhere in Westminster Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England is answering questions from the Treasury Select Committee.

The MPs have taken questions from the public, including on Twitter, to quiz the governor. First up: When will your successor be recruited and hired?

"Whereas I was appointed several months before I took office, there are examples, including of the ECB, where the most recent president, Mario Draghi was appointed a few weeks in advance of taking office."

"[Britain] will have a highly qualified governor, a more highly qualified governor, in the new year."

"The government and this process has encouraged a very wide range of high quality people to apply. It's afforded a good set of options for the government to consider."

11.31am BST

Peter Kyle returns to the Thomas Cook bonuses.

Q: The collapse of your company has created real suffering for your employees. You've not suffered the same way. Why have you not put your hand into your own pocket?

11.24am BST

Peter Kyle MP asks how the board addressed the rising crisis that subsumed Thomas Cook.

Former chair Frank Meysman says board members discussed how to cut its debt levels, and devised a plan to cut the pile by 100m per year.

11.16am BST

Fankhauser adds that he was in 'close contact' with UK government bodies, with around 100 meetings in the last year.

That included a meeting with Grant Shapps, transport secretary, on 9th September, when Fankhauser told Shapps that TC's banks were seeking additional financing to underpin the rescue plan.

11.13am BST

Rachel Reeves asks whether Thomas Cook spoke to government ministers in other countries.

Apparently they spoke to lots!

11.10am BST

Fankhauser adds that Thomas Cook engaged intensively with the government, at the highest level, in the days before its collapse.

We were "pretty confident", he says, but then on Sunday 22nd September the company realised that it faced a cliff-edge - without government support, the game was up.

This is the letter the government sent to Thomas Cook, informing the company that it had decided not to support the rescue plan. "Significant precedent risk" is the reason given for rejecting the request for financial help. Hours after the letter was sent Thomas Cook went bust. pic.twitter.com/aRtrlR9hsb

11.02am BST

Q: Would it have been in the taxpayers' interest to rescue Thomas Cook?

Former chair Frank Meysman says that this is a matter for governments, but points out that other governments have taken a different view. Germany, for example, has bailed out the Condor airline (which is profitable).

10.49am BST

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, has urged Thomas Cook's former top brass to do the right thing, and hand their bonuses to the firm's pension fund.

Field says:

"Thomas Cook workers now face a long wait to find out exactly how much they've lost from their life savings, and while their former bosses might argue that this isn't another BHS, Carillion or British Steel, they will have a hard time justifying the millions they pocketed, one eye on the door, while the company collapsed around them.

"If they've had a chance to check how their own pensions are affected, perhaps the high-paid executives responsible would like to bolster the retirement of some of the workers they left behind, and give some of it back?"

10.48am BST

Former chairman Frank Meysman blames the UK government's lack of support for driving Thomas Cook to the wall three weeks ago.

He claims that all the parties were still committed to the 900m rescue deal at 4pm on "that famous, tragic Sunday" [the day before the company failed].

Thomas Cook chair Frank Meysman gets to the point he's been skirting around. He says the company had the 200m in place, or promised, to secure remaining 900m rescue deal at 4pm. Says government lack of support killed the deal.

10.37am BST

The committee are now asking about Thomas Cook's last few weeks, when it became clear it needed more money.

Q: When did you learn that the banks required 200m of extra funding? Which date in August?

10.29am BST

My colleague Rob Davies is tweeting the key points from the hearing:

Thomas Cook boss Peter Fankhauser concedes he was paid an "enormous amount". Says the company was making right steps to cut debt when it was hit by European heatwave. Admits they were "not fast enough" in mending the problems.

Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser being asked at select committee how much of his bonuses can be clawed back. It's about 558k. See our story this morning.

"No more than 1m will be recouped from Thomas Cook chiefs."https://t.co/AoouR6MDUu

BEIS committee chair launches a broadside at Thomas Cook chair after he lists successes. "You chaired a business that has gone under because of the decisions made collectively by your management team." Asks for "a bit more humility".

Thomas Cook pay committee chief Warren Tucker says pay linked to underlying earnings (which ignore massive one-off negatives) to avoid providing a disincentive to invest. Pretty extraordinary idea that execs need an incentive to do what's required to save a company.

Thomas Cook boss Peter Fankhauser admits that selling the airline when it had the chance "might have been a solution".

10.28am BST

Q: Why didn't Thomas Cook's management realise that its rescue plan was going wrong?

Peter Fankhauser insists he believed the plan would work - the company tested "every day at four o'clock" that the deal could work.

10.23am BST

Q: Why did Thomas Cook underestimate the amount of money it needed to save it?

Fankhauser says the company tried to sell its airline, to generate cash to help tide it through this winter, along with fresh bank financing.

10.15am BST

Rachel Reeves MP turns to the sale of Thomas Cook's shops to Hays Travel, a family owned firm (excellently profiled here).

Q: Can they make a success of it?

10.06am BST

Back to the bonuses, and Warren Tucker (former remuneration committee chair) confirms that underlying profitability was used to set bonuses.

Why?!

10.03am BST

The former Thomas Cook executives are claiming that their business was complicated, needed turning around, so it was right to class some losses as 'one-off' items on its balance sheet.

Chair Rachel Reeves dispute the argument -- she argues that Thomas Cook used exceptional items to burnish its balance sheet, and give a rosier picture.

With all respect, Mr Meysman, you can point to as many successes as you like, but you have brought down a 178 year old business with huge repercussions for customers, staff, and taxpayers.

So you can point to the successes, but I'll point to the failures and they hugely outweigh the successes.

I think you're deluded about the business you ran.

You chaired a business that has gone under because of the decisions made collectively by your management team. When you point to your successes, maybe show a little more humility.

9.52am BST

Stephen Kerr MP takes issue with the claim that Thomas Cook was trading well. You only made a profit in 2015, he insists -- every other year recently was a loss.

Q: So how can you justify bonuses?

9.45am BST

Former chairman Frank Meysman is now challenged -- why did Thomas Cook not write down its goodwill earlier?

Meysman argues that trading looked strong, so there was no need to.

9.38am BST

Antoinette Sandbach MP turns to Thomas Cook's accounts. She points out that Thomas Cook's last full accounts included 2.5bn of goodwill.

That was based on strong earnings growth (28% per year, for three years) .

9.30am BST

Q: Why were the debts so high?

Peter Fankhauser says Thomas Cook's debts were high when he joined in 2014, so he tried to bring them down.

9.29am BST

Former CFO Sten Daugaard says he joined the company in 2018, after two profit warnings.

He says the company's "very high" debt made it hard to execute the turnaround plan. Plus, the company wasn't generating enough cash to pay down debts.

9.25am BST

Warren Tucker, former chair of the remuneration committee, says he is also sorry that Thomas Cook couldn't be rescued.

Former CFO Sten Daugaard also associates himself with Fankhauser's opening contrite statement, as does former chair Frank Meysman and former audit chair Martine Verluyten. She says "I always feel terribly sorry about what happened".

9.20am BST

Committee chair Rachel Reeves turns to the issue of bonuses.

Q: Some 20m was paid to executives in the last five years -- so will Peter Fankhauser repay his bonuses?

9.12am BST

Former CEO Peter Fankhauser speaks first.

He tells the committee that he is "deeply sorry that we couldn't save this iconic brand, and this company with a long, long history."

I'm especially sorry to all my colleagues who worked tirelessly to make Thomas Cook a better company.

9.04am BST

The business committee's inquiry is underway.

MPs will hear from Peter Fankhauser (former CEO); Frank Meysman (former chairman); Sten Daugaard (former CFO); Martine Verluyten (former chair of the audit committee); and Warren Tucker (former chair of the remuneration committee).

9.02am BST

8.56am BST

While we're waiting in the departure lounge for the inquiry to begin, do check out our interview with John and Irene Hays.

They're the husband and wife team who bought Thomas Cook's 555 high street travel agencies this week, and hope to hire thousands of workers who lost their jobs when the firm collapsed.

"People have portrayed us as country bumpkins," says John, 70, who founded Sunderland-based Hays Travel from the back of his mother's childrenswear shop in 1980. "We'll see what they think in a couple of years' time."

The pair have a Herculean task ahead of them, picking up at least some of the pieces left over from one of the worst corporate failures in UK history.

8.52am BST

The first session of our inquiry into the collapse of Thomas Cook starts at 9.00am. You can watch live here https://t.co/0UbiwwSeWi

8.52am BST

A group of Thomas Cook cabin crew have arrived at parliament too, to hear Fankhauser and ex-colleagues questioned.

#ThomasCook cabin crew hoping for answers from their former bosses as MP's question them about company's collapse. pic.twitter.com/HeEYeVBEQ6

8.49am BST

Yesterday, ITV published the letter which the Department for Transport sent to Thomas Cook on 22nd September - explaining that it wouldn't provide financial assistance.

The letter explained that government intervention would "creates a significant precedent risk to the private sector in future restructurings."

8.41am BST

Peter Fankhauser, former CEO of Thomas Cook, has arrived at parliament for the Thomas Cook inquiry, where he was collared by journalists.

"We understand that the collapse of Thomas Cook caused a lot of stress, disruption and anxiety
Me and my colleagues are still devastated about the outcome and deeply regret that we were not able to secure the business." - former CEO arrives for the select committee hearing. pic.twitter.com/FN9PXGyo1n

8.26am BST

Some early reaction to the Woodford news:

Cannot emphasise enough what a disaster the closure of the Woodford Equity Income fund is for investors - likely to mean FAR less than had fund reopened in December

Neil Woodford's flagship fund is to be wound up.

Investors will not get any money back until mid-January at the earliest.

Withdrawals from the Woodford Equity Income Fund have been frozen since Junehttps://t.co/DHpupjGiz2

8.25am BST

Ah. Neil Woodford has said he "cannot accept" the closure of his flagship fund this morning.

LFS has concluded that an orderly realisation of the fund's assets allows the return of money through interim payments to investors more quickly than if the fund had remained suspended for a longer period of time.

8.20am BST

Big investment news this morning: Neil Woodford's 3.5bn flagship fund is being wound up and the cash (what's left of it) returned to investors.

The former star fund manager has effectively been sacked by the administrators of the fund, Link Asset Services.

8.11am BST

Thomas Cook's collapse ruined many people's holiday plans, and left many thousands more facing delays and uncertainty as they tried to get home.

But there was a happy ending for one couple, Sharon Cook and Andrew Aitchison of Liverpool. They has booked Thomas Cook to fly them to Las Vegas for their wedding, and were facing having to cancel -- ruining a year's planning.

8.01am BST

Ever helpful, the Guardian have drawn up some crucial questions for MPs to ask Thomas Cook this morning.

7.58am BST

Here's the terms of reference of the Thomas Cook inquiry:

7.51am BST

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Tuesday morning's evidence hearing is expected to focus on questions around Thomas Cook's rescue plan, corporate governance and the role of the Thomas Cook board, the debt taken on by the company, accounting practices, and the setting of CEO pay.

Our first evidence session on the collapse of Thomas Cook is tomorrow at 9.00am. Watch live at https://t.co/uXRuQvxnAV pic.twitter.com/bUk8rXKQtp

Peter Fankhauser was paid 8.4m during his tenure as chief executive at Thomas Cook, including 4.6m in bonuses, but the majority was paid in shares that he did not sell and are now worthless. Of the remainder, only one year's cash bonus falls within the two-year clawback limit, meaning the maximum he could be forced to return is 558,000.

The same applies to former finance director Michael Healy, who could only be forced to give back 465,000, a combined total of just over 1m.

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