AGM delay at Rangers

RANGERS Supporters Association general secretary John McMillan has backed the club’s decision to postpone its annual general meeting until early in the new year as they bid to resolve their ongoing tax issues.

Craig Whyte, the Rangers chairman, confirmed that the agm will not take place by the 31 December deadline set by stock market guidelines. The Ibrox club could also face a legal penalty for failing to file audited accounts within six months of the end of their financial year on 30 June.

Rangers published their annual figures last week but they have not yet been signed off by an independent auditor. The HMRC first tier tax tribunal into Rangers’ use of Employment Benefit Trusts, which could see the Scottish champions face a bill as high as £49 million if it goes against them, is due to reconvene in January.

“I don’t think there will be any great concern among the Rangers fans that the agm is delayed,” said McMillan. “The biggest issue for everyone connected with the club is the tax case, so if the chairman is holding fire until there is a resolution to it one way or another, I believe it makes sense.

“There are obviously a lot of questions shareholders will want to ask Mr Whyte but as long as the agm is held early in 2012, then I think that will be acceptable. The outcome of the tax issue is going to determine the mood of the meeting when it does happen.”

Former Rangers director Paul Murray expressed his concerns over Whyte’s tenure of the club in The Scotsman last week, questioning the Motherwell-born venture capitalist’s talk of potential administration and the failure to have the annual accounts formally audited.

But Whyte has insisted he can cope with the personal scrutiny he faces, following the SFA announcement they were seeking clarification on his disqualification as a director of a company from 2000 to 2007 and whether it breached their ‘fit and proper person’ regulations for office bearers at a club.

“I feel there is too much focusing on negatives from my past, but I put myself up there to be shot at,” said Whyte. “I can handle that. But I hope there will be a more positive atmosphere by the time of the agm.

“We’d still hope to have our accounts signed off before the end of the year. It will not be logistically possible to have the agm in what remains of 2011, though. We will have it in the first quarter of 2012 when we’ll have a better indication of how the tax case will play out. I’d like to face that agm with more certainty and positive news on the way ahead for Rangers.”