The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the financial strength of the Pension Protection Fund.
Baroness Altmann
The Pension Protection Fund is run by an independent Board and reviews its financial position regularly. It manages over £23 billion of assets and, in the 2014/15 Annual Report, the last published, declared a funding ratio of 115.1 per cent and a surplus of £3.6 billion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will investigate the compliance of professional advisers to Retail Acquisitions with know-your-customer and money-laundering regulations.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
A regulatory framework is in place to deal with non-compliance with know-your-customer and money-laundering regulations. However, this is not the focus of the current investigation by the Insolvency Service into BHS.
If, during the course of the current Insolvency Service investigation into BHS, it appears that there is good reason to widen the scope of its enquires, the Insolvency Service has powers under the Companies Act 1985 to initiate confidential enquiries.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last reviewed the risks posed to financial stability by central clearing houses; and whether such a review took account of the increasing practice of cross-margining linking two or more clearing houses.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Under European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) CCPs in the UK are regulated by the Bank of England. For other information I refer the noble Lord to my written answers of 1 April (HL7153) and 26 April (HL7583, HL7584, HL7585, and HL7586).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consulted experts in the field before publicly welcoming the acquisition of ARM Holdings by SoftBank, and whether they would similarly welcome a rival bid from an international private equity investor.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
SoftBank has made it clear that it intends to invest in ARM, keep its HQ in the UK, and at least double the employee headcount in the UK. The Government welcomes this. No rival bids for ARM have so far been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have agreed to cross-margining of variable payments through LCH Clearnet and Eurex; and if so, who will be responsible for regulating these separate entities; and whether they have required any increase in capital or margin.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) establishes a strict supervisory framework for CCPs, which in the UK are regulated by the Bank of England.
EMIR’s requirements – which continue to apply in the event of a merger or change of control of a CCP – include that a CCP must be sufficiently well-resourced to withstand extreme market events, including the simultaneous default of its two largest clearing members.
In the event of a qualifying change of control the Bank of England must under EMIR also assess the suitability of the proposed acquirer and financial soundness of the proposed acquisition.
Copies of the Bank of England’s 2016 report on supervision of financial market infrastructures were laid before Parliament on 4 March and are available in the House library.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-25.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the legislation protecting creditors in the event of business failure.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
We do keep insolvency legislation under review. We seek to ensure that the legislative framework strikes the right balance between rescuing a business, which may also save jobs, and the rights of creditors who may lose out financially.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-03.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 26 April (HL7583 and HL7584), what assessment they have made of whether the same collateral could be used to support risk at both LCH and Eurex.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers of 26 April (HL7583 and HL7780) which noted that, once notified of the merger, the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority would assess the proposal from a regulatory standpoint, and that it would also be subject to assessments and approvals by the competition authorities, overseas regulators, and shareholders.
My previous answers further noted that any inter central counterparty links would need to be assessed against the relevant parts of European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) by the Bank of England, as supervisor of LCH.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the current situation facing the UK’s retail industry, they will reconsider their decision not to publish the report by the Insolvency Service into the collapse of Comet Group plc.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Insolvency Service’s fact-finding inquiry into Comet was conducted under Section 447 of the Companies Act 1985. Section 449 of that Act makes it a criminal offence to share any information gathered in the course of the investigation with any person, other than in the strictly prescribed circumstances laid out in the Act.
In the light of this legal position I am unable to reconsider the request to publish the report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-07-20.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to enforce the commitments they have obtained from SoftBank in connection with employment and the location of the headquarters of ARM Holdings.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
The Takeover Panel is responsible for enforcing the post offer undertakings given by SoftBank under the terms of the Takeover Code. Grant Thornton LLP has been appointed as an independent supervisor under the Code to monitor compliance with the undertakings. The Takeover Panel can require SoftBank to submit written progress reports in such form and as frequently as it requires and can take disciplinary action if the undertakings are not fulfilled. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will continue to monitor developments.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-23.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the UK contributes towards the subsidisation of sugar production.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Sugar production is not directly subsidised in the UK. However, sugar beet growers in the UK are entitled to make a claim for support under the Basic Payment Scheme of the Common Agricultural Policy.