Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 May 1999.

Measures to give incorporated friendly societies greater flexibility in extending the range of permitted services available to their members were announced by the Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt today.

These proposed measures will allow friendly societies :

• own subsidiaries which may themselves, in turn, have a subsidiary or more than one level of subsidiary;
• to own subsidiaries formed in non-EC countries.

Commenting on the proposals, Ms Hewitt said :

“Friendly societies carry out invaluable work by encouraging saving, especially by those of modest means. The movement has asked for the restrictions on subsidiaries to be lifted. The Government has listened and acted. These changes will enable societies to more easily set up or acquire subsidiaries, providing a wider range of services for their members.”

The proposals are outlined in a consultation document, “Proposed Amendments To The Friendly Societies Act 1992”. The proposed changes can be made through a Deregulation Order under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. The consultation period ends on 30 July 1999.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 31 May 1999.

Own a small car? Or thinking of buying one? This may help – from today, the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) on vehicles with an engine of 1100cc or less is cut to £100 – a saving of £55.

1.8 million cars in the UK will benefit from the reduced rate, said Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt today:

“Size obviously does matter – and those people with smaller, cleaner cars will from today reap the benefit of a significant cut in VED.

“Safeguarding the environment and protecting people’s health is a major commitment of this Government – and using the tax system to encourage people to use environmentally-friendly cars is one way to do this.

“Today’s cut is only the first step in a major reform of the VED system. From autumn 2000, a completely new system will be introduced for new cars, where owners will pay according to their car’s rate of CO2 emissions. This Government is sending a clear and strong environmental signal to motor manufacturers and owners alike that measures will be taken to protect the environment.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. In the 1998 Budget, the Chancellor promised to introduce a system of graduated VED for cars, to encourage people to manufacture, use and buy more fuel-efficient vehicles. Today’s reduced rate is the first step of that commitment. A graduated VED system for new cars based primarily on their carbon dioxide emissions will apply from autumn 2000.

2. The models of cars that will qualify for the reduced rate include:

• the lowest engined-sized models of the Vauxhall Corsa, Volkswagon Polo, Volkswagon Lupo, Nissan Micra, Fiat Seicento, Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Alto, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Wagon R, Daihatsu Cuore, Daihatsu Move, Daihatsu Sirion, Hyundai Atoz, Daewoo Matiz, Seat Arose, Perodua Nippa and Citroen Saxo.
• There will also be a number of older models of Minis, Ford Fiesta Populars, Metros, Fiat Pandas, Fiat Unos, Citroen AX and Peugeot 106 that will qualify.

3. Around 8 per cent of all the cars in the Private and Light Goods vehicle class have engines up to 1100cc – around 1.8 million cars will therefore be eligible for the £55 reduction.

4. The DVLA have written to motorists who will benefit from the lower rate inviting them to relicence at the reduced rate from today and (where appropriate) claim a refund on their current licence. The Post Office will deduct the refund due on their current licence from the cost of their new one.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 25 May 1999.

Proposals to improve financial literacy and consumer awareness of mortgages, pensions and other savings investments starting at school age have been welcomed by Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt.

Welcoming the initiative, developed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) under its consumer protection and awareness remit and due to be published later this week, Ms Hewitt said:

“Savers and investors are often intimidated by the complexity and range of financial services products available. They need to understand them better to have the confidence to use them effectively. The new role in consumer education for the FSA is a major step forward towards achieving wider understanding and confidence in the financial services industry.

“Helping young savers to learn about savings opportunities and providing league tables for authorised investment products are two ways which the FSA is already developing to improve public awareness of what effective savings products can do for them. At the same time, increased confidence will help the financial services industry to continue to develop the range of products and services it can offer them.”

Speaking about the wider role of the new FSA at the Securities Institute, she added :

“But the new regime we are proposing is about more than just individual consumers. An efficient and effective financial services industry is vital for prosperity, stability and international competitiveness. Millions of people depend on the availability of modern financial services and fair and honest markets and advice. Consumer confidence is the key to success, and simpler, more effective regulation is central to that.

“The FSA will not just be a new regulator: it will be a new kind of regulator. Its new role will cover improving market confidence; protecting savers and investors through increased financial literacy and better consumer education as well as by regulating those involved in financial services; and reducing financial crime.

“It will deliver effective and proportionate regulation of financial services, with a light touch in regulation to minimise burdens on financial services providers but effective consumer protection where necessary. It will offer regulation that works with the grain of customer needs and industry innovation and development: a winning formula for both.

“There will be a single ombudsman scheme to deliver better access to redress when things do go wrong, together with effective safeguards in the disciplinary and market abuse provisions which will ensure effective regulation and increase confidence in the UK industry as the place to do financial services business.

“The FSA will promote public awareness of the financial system, with better understanding of the benefits and risks of the various ways to save and invest, with easy to understand, authoritative information. This will help more people to benefit from savings and investment through better understanding of the financial services market place, encouraging them to demand simpler, cheaper and more flexible products.

“The FSA is already delivering on this. It has published guides to financial advice, pensions, ISAs and the euro, and set up public enquiry points and pensions review help-lines. And as part of its strategy for promoting public understanding of the financial system it has also:

consulted widely on a consumer education strategy to deliver savings education to young savers;
looked at effective ways to improve financial literacy for adult savers so that they can ask the right questions of those selling them financial products; and is developing ideas for league tables of authorised investment products, which could cover cost, access and other terms, enabling consumers to compare products and get the best deals.

“These are all welcome developments. They show that the FSA is already working for the industry and for savers and investors. It is at the heart of our drive towards a new kind of regulation, achieving even higher standards and improving professionalism in the financial services industry.

“We already have one of the best financial services industries in the world, setting standards which other still aspire to. But this should not make us complacent: markets change, technologies develop, consumer requirements grow.

“We must continually strive to find further means to increase professional and consumer confidence and enhance the reputation of the industry at home and abroad. The Financial Services and Markets Bill which will shortly be going before Parliament is a major step towards that goal.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 20 May 1999.

A $2,000 million Millennium Trust Fund to speed up the debt relief process and cut the debts of the world’s poorest countries by $50 billion by the end of the year 2000 has been called for today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown and Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development.

The aim of the Trust will be to fund over time a more ambitious programme of faster, wider and deeper debt relief which will remove a country’s unsustainable debt burden and allow resources to be reallocated to programme that reduce poverty.

To support the new Trust Fund the Chancellor and Ms Short challenged the world’s richest countries to increase their contributions to the HIPC Trust Fund and called on the European Commission to contribute resources from the European Development Fund (EDF).

The Chancellor said:

“We propose that the developed world should ensure that the Trust Fund has $2,000 million to meet the costs of an enhanced scheme. This is the final building block in our proposals, which will go the G7 meetings next month, to finance debt write-off by $50 billion by the end of the year 2000.

“We are convinced that resources from the EDF could make a major contribution to debt relief. They could be used to unshackle the poorest countries from their unsustainable debt burdens and allow those countries to tackle the greatest problem of our generation – the lack of primary education and healthcare for the poorest and most deprived. To provide the key that will unlock the door to chronic poverty”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 21 December 2022.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on financial services cooperation on 20 December 2022.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 21 December 2022.

Shahzad Arshad, 43, and Alexander Stewart Cooper, 70, from Glasgow, have been disqualified as company directors following separate investigations which found they had both made false claims in order to receive Bounce Back Loans for their businesses.

Shahzad Arshad was the director of two companies – Town Discount Ltd and Naz Accessories Ltd – which were both based in Glasgow.

Town Discount Ltd was incorporated in January 2020 and began trading a month later as a retailer of games, toys, clothes, watches and jewellery, until it went into liquidation in December 2021.

Naz Accessories was incorporated in December 2017 and traded as a clothes retailer until it went into liquidation in January 2022. Both companies traded from Dougrie Drive in the city.

Arshad applied for Bounce Back Loans for the two companies during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, stating in the loan application that Town Discount’s turnover for 2019 was £250,000, and Naz Accessories’ turnover was £200,000.

Bounce Back Loans were a government scheme to support businesses through the pandemic. Under the rules of the scheme, companies could apply for loans of between £2,000 and £50,000, up to a maximum of 25% of their 2019 turnover.

Both companies received the maximum £50,000 loans based on Arshad’s application, but later went into liquidation owing a total of more than £106,000, including around £93,400 that was owed for the Bounce Back Loan, triggering an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that Arshad had made a false claim about Town Discount Ltd’s turnover, as it had only begun trading in February 2020. It was therefore not entitled to any funding through the Bounce Back Loan scheme. And they found that Naz Accessories Ltd’s true turnover had been around £98,300, which meant the maximum loan it could have claimed was £24,500.

Investigators also found that between June 2020, when Town Discount Ltd received the loan, and August 2020, £16,000 had been withdrawn from the company bank account in cash, and the remainder of the loan money was paid out to expense and trade creditors.

But Arshad had been unable to prove that the money had been used to provide an economic benefit to the business, as per the rules of the scheme.

The second Glaswegian boss, Alexander Stewart Cooper, was appointed as a director of Traprain Homes Ltd in August 2016, becoming sole director in October 2019. The company traded as a construction company until it went into liquidation in June 2021.

Cooper applied for a Bounce Back Loan for Traprain Homes in June 2020, stating that the company’s turnover was £1,014,930. Traprain Homes received the maximum loan of £50,000.

The company later went into liquidation, owing the full amount of the loan, which triggered an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that Traprain Homes Ltd had been insolvent at the time Cooper applied for the loan. Company accounts to January 2020 had shown a loss of more than £113,000, and the company had not been actively trading since February 2020. The business bank account had shown a balance of just £96 when the loan was received.

They also discovered that once the loan had been received, Cooper paid more than £9,400 to himself from the firm’s account, and later transferred more than £40,000 of the money between the company’s different bank accounts before paying it out to himself.

In October 2022 the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy accepted disqualification undertakings from both directors.

Cooper did not dispute he had caused his company to breach the rules of the Bounce Back Loan scheme by claiming the loan when he knew, or ought to have known, that Traprain Homes Ltd was not eligible, and later misused the funds, resulting in Cooper being banned for 10 years from 14 November 2022.

Arshad did not dispute that he had caused Town Discount Ltd to apply for a loan to which the company was not entitled, and failed to show that it had been used for the economic benefit of the company.

And he also did not dispute that he had breached the terms of the scheme by overstating Naz Accessories Ltd’s turnover to obtain a loan of £50,000 – more than twice the amount it was entitled to – resulting in Arshad being banned for 11 years from 21 November 2022.

Cooper has fully repaid the loan for Traprain Homes following recovery action by the company’s liquidator. Arshad had repaid £3,549 and £3,333 respectively towards the Bounce Back Loans for Town Discount Ltd and Naz Accessories Ltd, prior to their liquidation.

Steven McGinty, Investigation Manager at the Insolvency Service, said:

Bounce Back Loans were an emergency measure made available to help British businesses trading through the most testing of times.

Cooper breached the eligibility criteria and then took the money for personal gain, while Arshad should have known his companies weren’t entitled to the loans, yet he took them anyway.

This abuse of government support has led to lengthy bans and should serve as a warning to others that we will not hesitate to take action against directors who have abused Covid-19 financial support.