Tag: Lord Myners

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish the savings in public sector procurement as a result of following the advice of Sir Philip Green; and whether they will consider inviting Sir Philip to review the adequacy and effectiveness of implementation.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

I refer the noble Lord to the answers I gave him on 11 April 2016 to Question HL7227 and on 9 May to Question HL7900.

We have published details of savings made through efficiency and reform each year since 2010-11. The most recent report can be found on www.gov.uk.

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.

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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 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which were the 10 jurisdictions into which closed bank accounts held in Switzerland by United Kingdom residents were transferred according to information provided to them by the Swiss National Bank.

Lord Deighton

HL4893

Under the Swiss Agreement HMRC received a list of the top 10 destinations to where funds were moved in the period before the Agreement came into force. They are using this information together with information from compliance work to follow the proceeds of tax evasion.

As with Lichtenstein agreement signed in 2009, HMRC is legally restricted by the Agreement’s terms from publishing the information provided.

HL4896

Where there is evidence of collusion in tax evasion or other wrongdoing, the relevant law enforcement agency would assess that evidence and decide whether to pursue an investigation.

HMRC received the data from the French in April 2010 under very strict international treaty conditions, which limited its use to tax purposes only and prevented HMRC from sharing the data with other law enforcement authorities for investigating other potential offences.

HMRC first asked for the conditions to be relaxed in August 2010. Following a number of more recent representations, the French authorities gave written confirmation on 23 February 2015 that they were lifting restrictions on the use and sharing of the data with other law enforcement agencies and regulators for the purpose of investigating criminal offences.

As a result, HMRC has recently held a multi-agency meeting to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulatory actions were taken in the United Kingdom in connection with HSBC as a consequence of the fines imposed in the United States in response to its involvement in money laundering on behalf of Mexican drug cartels.

Lord Deighton

I can confirm to the Noble Lord that the information I provided him in response to his written question answered on 17th June 2013 remains accurate:

US investigations and enforcement action on HSBC focused on their subsidiaries in the US. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has no direct supervisory remit over these HSBC entities.

However, in conjunction with the action taken by the US, the (then) FSA, as lead regulator for the HSBC Group globally, made a number of requirements of HSBC Holdings plc, designed to ensure that all parts of the HSBC Group are compliant with the relevant legal and regulatory requirements across the Group to prevent similar failings occurring in future.

This included requiring a committee of the HSBC Board to oversee matters relating to anti-money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing and proliferation financing; requiring the Group to revise its policies and procedures to ensure that all parts of the HSBC Group are subject to standards equivalent to those required under UK requirements; HSBC employing an independent monitor to oversee the Group’s compliance with UK anti-money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing and proliferation financing requirements and to provide independent reporting to the HSBC Board committee and regulators. HSBC Holdings was also required to appoint a Group Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), with responsibility for ensuring that systems and controls are in place across the Group.

The FCA is closely monitoring the implementation of these requirements by HSBC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint was made aware of the information forwarded to them by the government of France on alleged tax evasion made possible by HSBC.

Lord Deighton

Due to the longstanding legal requirements for taxpayer confidentiality, Ministers are not made aware of invidual tax cases. At no point were Ministers made aware of any suggestion of wrong doing by HSBC itself.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they plan to take in connection with bankers who colluded in tax evasion or oversaw those perpetrating collusion.

Lord Deighton

HL4893

Under the Swiss Agreement HMRC received a list of the top 10 destinations to where funds were moved in the period before the Agreement came into force. They are using this information together with information from compliance work to follow the proceeds of tax evasion.

As with Lichtenstein agreement signed in 2009, HMRC is legally restricted by the Agreement’s terms from publishing the information provided.

HL4896

Where there is evidence of collusion in tax evasion or other wrongdoing, the relevant law enforcement agency would assess that evidence and decide whether to pursue an investigation.

HMRC received the data from the French in April 2010 under very strict international treaty conditions, which limited its use to tax purposes only and prevented HMRC from sharing the data with other law enforcement authorities for investigating other potential offences.

HMRC first asked for the conditions to be relaxed in August 2010. Following a number of more recent representations, the French authorities gave written confirmation on 23 February 2015 that they were lifting restrictions on the use and sharing of the data with other law enforcement agencies and regulators for the purpose of investigating criminal offences.

As a result, HMRC has recently held a multi-agency meeting to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them.