Tag: Lord Myners

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any increase to the economic risk supervised by the Prudential Regulatory Authority of the proposed merger of the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse; whether obligations of the combined group will fall to the UK taxpayer; and whether there have been any discussions about risk sharing with the government of Germany.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

UK legislation requires central counterparties (CCPs) to develop recovery plans and to have ‘loss allocation’ rules, in order to allocate any losses sustained by the CCP either following the default of a clearing member or due to certain non-default events, so that the CCP can continue to provide its critical functions.

The Government has also broadened the scope of the UK’s Special Resolution Regime to cover CCPs. When certain conditions are met, this allows the Bank of England to intervene by transferring all or some of the business of a CCP to either a private sector purchaser or to a bridge CCP owned by the Bank of England, or to transfer ownership of the CCP to any person.

Qualifying changes of control of CCPs are assessed by the Bank of England and I refer the noble Lord to my written answer HL7153 of 1 April 2016.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any enquiries have been launched into the involvement of UK financial institutions in the matter of the Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a robust but proportionate anti-money laundering regime. The UK’s first National Risk Assessment of money laundering was published on 15 October 2015. It identified the threats and vulnerabilities faced in this area, and an Action Plan will be published shortly, clearly setting out the steps that will be taken to address them.

The Prime Minister made clear in his Singapore speech on corruption last year that the Government is determined to make sure the UK does not become a safe haven for corrupt money. The Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Summit in May will also consider what more the UK and our international partners can do to tackle flows of illicit finance at home and abroad.

Any investigation is an operational matter for the police and the prosecution authorities. The decision on whether to investigate a case, and then take forward a prosecution, will depend on the evidence available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the report produced by the Insolvency Service on the collapse of the Comet Group, and whether they will take that report into account when conducting any review of the circumstances leading to the collapse of BHS.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The Insolvency Service investigated Comet under provisions of the Companies Act, which means it is not possible to publish the report.

The Insolvency Service continuously builds on the experience gained in all its investigations to inform its work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the BHS pension fund has now transferred to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) or whether the owner, former owner, or secured creditors are still able to make a financial contribution to obviate a need to transfer the fund to the PPF.

Baroness Altmann

The BHS pension schemes are in Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment periods. During this period the schemes are able to accept contributions from the sponsoring employer to cover its debts to the schemes. They are also able to receive recoveries as a creditor or through the use of the Regulator’s powers. If the scheme assets are shown to be sufficient to buy its members annuities at least as good as the compensation paid by the PPF, the scheme will not transfer into the PPF.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which will be the lead regulator responsible after the acquisition of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Börse.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

As announced by the companies in February 2016, the existing regulatory framework of all regulated entities within the combined group would remain unchanged. This is subject to the regulatory review which will take place once the regulators are notified by the companies.

European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) requires coordination amongst regulators for supervisory and authorisation matters with regards to CCPs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Office for Budget Responsibility has produced its own forecast of the consequences of the UK leaving the EU.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) prepares its forecasts on the basis of the current Government policy and does not look at alternative policy scenarios. Government policy is to remain within the EU. Therefore the OBR has not factored into its forecast the impact of a UK exit from the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether children of a first marriage are disadvantaged compared with the children of subsequent marriages under current inheritance tax rules.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Inheritance tax is generally levied on estates rather than on beneficiaries. Although any legacies to a spouse or civil partner will be exempt, the relationship between the deceased and the beneficiaries usually has no effect on the inheritance tax liability of an estate under the current rules. The children of first marriages and of subsequent marriages, and indeed other beneficiaries of the deceased, will generally be treated in the same way.

The Government considered whether children of a first marriage would be disadvantaged compared with children of subsequent marriages when developing legislation for the new residence allowance. This is being phased in from April 2017 for individuals who leave their home to their children, grandchildren or other direct descendants. The definition of direct descendants includes a person who was at any time a step-child of the deceased so it would apply equally to children of first and any subsequent marriages.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Pensions Regulator will appoint an investment bank and retail consultancy to support its investigation into the events preceding BHS going into administration.

Baroness Altmann

Parliament gave the Pensions Regulator independence in how it operates. It is for the Regulator to determine how it wishes to undertake any investigation into matters relating to the BHS pension scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to investigate the growth in the number of banks offering unsecured credit cards with interest and principal payment grace periods of more than three years, in the light of the most recent report by MoneyFacts.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. On 3 November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 6 June (HL348 and HL349), whether the Bank of England will have regulatory responsibility for the subsidiary clearing house of Deutsche Börse incorporated in Germany; and, if it will not, which regulator would have responsibility in the event of a dispute between the clearing house based in the UK and the one based in Germany.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

As announced by the companies in February 2016, the existing regulatory framework of all regulated entities within the combined group would remain unchanged. This is subject to the regulatory review which will take place once the regulators are notified by the companies.

European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) requires coordination amongst regulators for supervisory and authorisation matters with regards to CCPs.