The attempt to restructure Thames Water’s waterlogged balance sheet is a complex and time-consuming undertaking, we can all agree. Current lenders will have to agree to write off many billions of pounds’ worth of debt, or have the pain forced upon them. Courts have to sanction the main steps. There is a risk (still) that the whole thing falls apart.
But one aspect should have been easy to understand from the outset: if Thames had thoughts of paying bonuses to some of its executives merely for staying on the payroll during the process, the only way to do so would be to get approval in advance from the regulator or government ministers, or both.
