It has been reported that fashion retailer Next has called an emergency shareholder meeting due to the company paying dividends on four occasions without informing Companies House that it had the money.

The situation was brought to light due to 11 shareholders coming forward in October 2014 saying they had written to Next, along with several other FTSE 100 companies requesting clearer financial reports known as “distributable reserves”.

Next commented: “The issue in question for this general meeting concerns the filing at Companies House of relevant accounts which demonstrate distributable reserves,” adding “the questions that had been previously raised were around clarity of disclosure in accounts.”

The meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, will consist of 12,000 shareholders as well as UBS and Allen & Overy, a top British law firm to represent it on the matter.