The Work & Pensions select committee has opened an investigation into the collapse of Carillion and its impact on the company's defined benefit (DB) schemes.
Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the committee, has written to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the trustees of the pension schemes, since the committee has "some specific concerns on the pensions side".
He said: "It beggars belief that a company can be allowed to run with such apparent recklessness - and be so lucrative for the directors and shareholders - when it has a giant pension deficit and a mountain of debt."
Mr Field will propose that the committee takes evidence from the company directors, trustees, The Pensions Regulator and auditors.
The defined benefit pension schemes of Carillion, one of the UK government's biggest contractors, will enter the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).
Carillion has 13 final salary schemes in the UK with more than 28,500 members, and a deficit of £587m at the end of July.
Seven pension funds have already entered a period of assessment at the pensions lifeboat, which have around 5,900 members, a spokesperson at the PPF said.
After unsuccessful talks with its lenders and the UK government, Carillion made an application on Monday (15 January) to the High Court for compulsory liquidation.
The accountancy firm PWC has been appointed as administrator.
Carillion, which employs about 43,000 people, has been struggling for several months, issuing a profit warning last year that sank its share price – which has fallen from more than £2 a year ago to about 14.2p on Tuesday (15 January).
In his letter to Lesley Titcomb, The Pensions Regulator's chief executive, Mr Field asked the regulator to detail if it is investigating Carillion, or if it will open an anti-avoidance case into the company.
He also questions the regulator’s concerns regarding the contractor’s profit warning, and the reasons for an increase in the scheme’s deficit.
Similar questions are made to the scheme’s trustees.
On Monday (15 January), Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd submitted a motion in Parliament calling for an inquiry into collapsed Carillion.
Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, demanded answers about the large deficit in the Carillion schemes, having written to The Pensions Regulator and Esther McVey, secretary of state for work and pensions.
In the meantime guidance body The Pensions Advisory Service (Tpas) has set up a dedicated helpline for members of the Carillion pension schemes.
FTAdviser reported on Wednesday (17 January) that there are already signs that scammers may be circling the company’s DB scheme members.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
