Many will have read with concern the news that a further two publicly listed companies, Dunelm and Domino’s Pizza Group, have admitted paying out dividends in contravention of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act). Most will be aware that these announcements came hot on the heels of Hargreaves Lansdown’s similar admission earlier in February this year.

Certainly, there is no implication that any of these companies have done anything intentionally wrong or dishonest or even, in most cases, that they distributed cash they did not have available for distribution.