Financial Services (Hansard, 15 January 1986)

§ 1. Mr. Michie
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next proposes to meet the Confederation of British Industry to discuss the regulation of financial services.

§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Leon Brittan)
I am always interested to hear the views of the Confederation of British Industry, but I have no plans for a specific meeting in the near future.

§ Mr. Michie
Why did the Financial Services Bill not make it clear that we ought to have statutory bodies independent of the people whom they are supposed to be reviewing? That is successfully done in most of the financial markets in the rest of the Western world. Why cannot we have completely independent statutory bodies?

§ Mr. Brittan
The independence of the Securities and Investments Board or its successor is unquestioned, but there is a real advantage in having regulatory bodies consisting of people who themselves are practitioners close to the market. That will lead to tighter rather than looser regulation.

§ Sir Anthony Grant
Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that many of us who are keenly interested in the subject of financial services sought to pose a number of questions to the Government in yesterday's debate, but we could not get an answer from my hon. and learned Friend the Under-Secretary of State because he was subjected to a most disgraceful muckraking campaign by the Opposition, with the result that serious points could not be answered? Will he find an opportunity to answer some of those questions in the near future?

§ Mr. Brittan
I am sure that I or my hon. and learned Friend the Under-Secretary of State will wish to take the opportunity to put on the record the points that my hon. and learned Friend was unable to deal with yesterday. One is always suspicious of circumstances in which a Minister has answers to give but the Opposition seem reluctant to hear them.

§ Mr. Ashdown
The Secretary of State might accept that while the personal reputation of the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) is 1058 beyond question, it nevertheless remains the fact that Lloyd's is a major issue in the Bill, and to have a member of Lloyd's, of whatever status, pilot the Bill through the House of Commons is bound to be misunderstood—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The question is concerned with the CBI.

§ Mr. Ashdown
Does the Secretary of State recognise that the CBI and others are bound to misunderstand that, and that it is bound to undermine the standing of the Bill and, indeed, the probity of the Government? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman reconsider the matter and, if the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe cannot divest himself of his interest in Lloyd's, will he think of giving another colleague—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That has nothing to do with it.

§ Mr. Brittan
The CBI has made no representations to that effect.

§ Mr. Gould
Given that one of the major objects of the Financial Services Bill, with which the CBI and everyone else is concerned, is the avoidance of conflicts of interest in the City, is it not odd that the Minister responsible for the Bill is himself involved in a conflict of interest'? Is the Secretary of State aware—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The same principles apply to the Front Bench. The question must concern meetings with the CBI.

§ Mr. Gould
This is a question relating to the regulation of financial services, which is the subject of the question on the Order Paper. Has the Secretary of State had his attention drawn to the Churchill-Butler statement on these issues, which has been endorsed by a line of successive Prime Ministers, the first paragraph of which reads: "It is a principle"—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That does not relate in any way to discussions with the CBI. The shadow Minister must relate his question to that aspect.

§ Mr. Gould
Nevertheless, this is a matter with which the CBI and everybody else in the City will be concerned. Will the Secretary of State ensure that if the Minister is unable for any reason to divest himself of the interest which he holds in Lloyd's, he will—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. That is quite out of order.