Football club owner hit with fine over shares transfer
The owner of Swindon Town has been fined for breaching rules regarding shares in the club.
An independent Disciplinary Commission (IDC) fined Clemente Morfuni £10,000 for failing to declare a transfer of shares in the club, as required under EFL Regulations.
Mr Morfuni had been charged in December of last year for failing to disclose to the club’s management the transfer of a 17.1% shareholding to Hollie Kiely in September 2022.
This led to the Club breaching its requirements to disclose to the League details of any ‘Significant Interest’ shareholder with more than 10% of voting rights and failing to update the official club website for public record.
The club and Mr Morfuni admitted the charges, with the latter taking full responsibility for the breach.
The club said the transfer do shares were a result of an historic long-term Club debt, which predated the ownership of the club by parent company UBO.
The debt was sold and then accelerated by the new creditor, who made threats of immediate legal action against the club.
As a result, the UBO sought to raise urgent finance to satisfy the historic debt. The relevant shares were transferred as security for part of the finance that was raised to clear the debt.A
While the independent Disciplinary Commission acknowledged Swindon Town suffered an ‘inadvertent breach’ after Mr Morfuni’s administration error, the club was issued with a reprimand and warning as to its future conduct.
