TWO former finance directors of a collapsed construction firm have been fined for acting “recklessly” and being “knowingly” involved in regulation breaches.

Richard Adam and Zafar Khan were hit with £232,800 and £138,900 respectively eight years after Carillion went into compulsory liquidation with massive debts.

Carillion was one of Britain’s largest construction and facilities management firms and was contracted for several major government projects.

Britain’s financial watchdog said Mr Adam and Mr Khan were “both aware of serious financial troubles in Carillion’s UK construction business but failed to reflect this in company announcements or alert the board and audit committee.”

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it had fined Mr Adam and Mr Khan after each of them withdrew their challenges to its findings.

Mr Adam was the group’s director of finance from April 2007 to the end of 2016 before being succeeded by Mr Khan, who held the role from January 2017 until September of that year.

The FCA found they had “acted recklessly and were knowingly concerned in breaches by Carillion of the Market Abuse Regulation and the Listing Rules.”

FCA enforcement and market oversight executive director Steve Smart said: “Those in positions of responsibility have a duty to keep the market accurately and adequately informed.

“With Carillion, we have seen the serious impact it can have when they don’t.”

Carillion employed about 43,000 people globally, with 19,000 in Britain.

Former Carillion chief executive Richard Howson was also handed a FCA decision in 2022 but is disputing the findings. Accounting firm KPMG was handed a record £21 million fine in 2023 by the Financial Reporting Council over its audits of Carillion.