§ Mr. Bruce-Gardyneasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will now exercise his powers under the Companies Act 1967 to suspend the exemptions enjoyed by banks from certain of the accounting provisions of the Companies Act 1948, so that shareholders may have all the information necessary for them to arrive at a judgment on merger proposals offered to them.
§ Mr. Darling:No. As my right hon. Friend informed my hon. Friend the Member for Heywood and Royton (Mr. Barnett) on 20th December, Her Majesty's Government consider that they need more time to study the full accounts of the banks over a period in order to assess the consequences of full public disclosure before deciding whether to continue the exemptions. For the time being they have concluded that the desirabiliy of giving more information to shareholders is over-ridden by the arguments against disclosure.—[Vol. 756, c. 433–4.]