The U.K. Parliament's Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, or BEIS, committee has launched an inquiry into Thomas Cook Group PLC following its collapse into liquidation earlier this week.
According to a Sept. 26 release from the British Parliament, the inquiry will focus on a number of issues including the management of the business, executive pay, accounting practices, as well as the role of auditors.
The committee will question Thomas Cook executives including CEO Peter Fankhauser, Chairman Frank Meysman, the group's finance director and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, as well as the U.K.'s Financial Reporting Council and the Insolvency Service.
The investigation will also look into the impact of Thomas Cook's liquidation on small businesses and suppliers.
"Amid the frustration of holidaymakers and the misery of thousands of staff losing their jobs, the collapse of Thomas Cook has uncovered what appears to be a sorry tale of corporate greed, raising serious questions about the actions of Thomas Cook's bosses and their stewardship of the business," BEIS Chairman and British MP Rachel Reeves said.
"The main players in the sad demise of Britain’s oldest travel firm should face public scrutiny and be held to account for their actions before the company collapsed," Reeves added.
The committee has opened evidence submissions until Oct. 10 and expects to begin evidence hearings on the inquiry in mid-to-late October.
Thomas Cook did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's request for comment.
At a hearing in Parliament following Thomas Cook's collapse, the U.K.'s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the department has been taking measures to support individuals who have been affected by Thomas Cook's liquidation. These include the 150,000 passengers left abroad without a flight back and the 9,000 Thomas Cook employees in the U.K. who have lost their jobs.
Shapps estimated that the repatriation effort for Thomas Cook customers could be worth about £100 million, twice the size of the cost of the government's repatriation effort for people affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines Ltd. in 2017.
