The Financial Reporting Council has opened preliminary inquiries into allegations that Battersea Power Station Development Company misstated the value of undeveloped land, after former chief executive Donagh O’Sullivan said he was dismissed for raising the issue. O’Sullivan’s employment tribunal claim asserts that internal accounts of sister entity BPS Holding valued plots at hundreds of millions of pounds above independent appraisals by Jones Lang La Salle and Knight Frank in 2023 and 2024, arguing that capitalising expenses rather than expensing them inflated the balance sheet.

BPS and BPS Holding reject the accusations, stating the accounting treatment was appropriate and that the external valuations were prepared on a different basis. The project’s owners — two publicly listed Malaysian firms and a Malaysian state pension fund — commissioned a forensic audit that concluded the allegations were unfounded and that the accounts complied with international standards. The FRC’s review is at an early stage and faces a jurisdictional question because the holding company is incorporated in Jersey.

If the watchdog escalates to a formal investigation under its accountancy scheme, the development could face restatements, potential penalties for auditors, and heightened scrutiny from investors tracking the Malaysian-backed asset. The outcome will test how cross‑border regulatory powers apply to high‑profile UK real‑estate vehicles.