§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will give an estimate of the losses to Great Britain's foreign currency assets arising from known violations of exchange control regulations in each of the last five years;
(2) what is the estimated loss to Great Britain's foreign currency assets from all violations of exchange control regulations in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of investigations into exchange control violations at present being carried out by his Department or the Bank of England.
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§ Mr. Robert SheldonI shall let my hon. Friend have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the number of prosecutions for exchange control violations in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonFollowing is the information
A. Prosecutions instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions and his counterparts outside England and Wales:
1971 51 1972 21 1973 25 1974 26 1975 11
B. Prosecutions instituted by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise for smuggling offences:
Year ending 31st March 1971–72 50 1972–73 41 1973–74 61 1974–75 42 1975–76 51
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the number of violations of exchange control regulations which have been considered for prosecution in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI regret that this information cannot be provided without a disproportionate expenditure of time and resources. Even when an infringement is certain, prosecution may not ensure, for example, because the offence is a minor one or there are mitigating circumstances or because—in Customs cases—the offence has been compounded.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed (a) in the Treasury, and (b) in the Bank of England to investigate possible exchange control irregularities.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonNine are wholly employed on investigation work in the Treasury and 11 in the Bank of England. In addition, other staff, including clerical and typing support, are involved in the work for part of their time.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria have to be satisfied by an applicant before 472W recognition as an authorised depositary is granted.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonUnder long standing arrangements most of those appointed as authorised depositaries are the members of certain categories considered to have the necessary professional standards to perform particular exchange control functions in fields which are intrinsically part of their business. These arrangements are kept under review.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many depositries are authorised for exchange control purposes.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe number of authorised depositaries under the Exchange Control Act is approximately 40,000.
§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when authorised depositaries were last reminded of their obligations under the exchange control regulations and were alerted to possible abuses; what form this reminder took; why it was issued; and by whom it was issued.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAuthorised depositaries were last reminded of their responsibilities under the provisions of the Exchange Control Act 1947 in a memorandum dated 14th May 1975 and last alerted in a memorandum dated 9th April 1976 to the risk of possible abuses. Both memoranda were issued by the Bank of England as agents for Her Majesty's Treasury because of the importance of effectively applying the rules involving securities and investment currency.