The FCA has fined Richard Howson £237,700 for his part in misleading statements being issued by Carillion.
The facilities management and construction company collapsed in 2018 with liabilities of nearly £7 billion. Its collapse followed profit warnings, high-risk contracts, and unsustainable debt, marking one of the UK’s largest corporate failures and impacting thousands of jobs and public services.
As group chief executive, the FCA says Howson was aware of serious financial troubles in Carillion’s UK construction business. He failed to reflect this in company announcements or alert its board and audit committee, leading to poor oversight.
The fine was imposed after Howson withdrew his challenge to the FCA’s decision.
Howson was one of two executive directors on Carillion’s board. His responsibilities included working closely with the group finance director to ensure Carillion communicated effectively with investors and had appropriate internal control processes.
Primary responsibility for ensuring the financial information disseminated to the market was accurate and not misleading lay with the group finance director. However, the FCA says Howson played an important role as the board member with the most expertise on construction and contracting matters.
The FCA found that Howson "acted recklessly and was knowingly concerned in breaches by Carillion of the Market Abuse Regulation and the Listing Rules".
During the period in question Carillion’s group finance director was first Richard Adam and then Zafar Khan. They were fined £232,800 and £138,900, respectively, in January 2026.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Carillion’s failure was significant. Jobs were lost, public sector projects put at risk and investors, who trusted the company to give them accurate information, suffered large scale losses. That’s why the FCA worked diligently to hold the company and its senior leaders to account."
