§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 27 June, Official Report, column 443, how many shares Rudolf Wolff & Co. undertook to buy in its role as underwriters to the flotation of British Telecommunications; and what happened to the shares they handled.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 1 July 1985, c. 6]: Rudolf Wolff was allocated 1.375 million shares under the placing and commitment arrangements described in my answer of 27 June. The arrangements for the offer for sale did not require applicants to give an account of their management of their allocations.
§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 27 June, Official Report, column 443, when the applications by employees of an eligible fund based overseas for 31,900 British Telecommunications shares were discovered; what arrangements were made for the surrender of their profits to charity; which charities were involved and on what dates payments were made to them; if any investigations into possible fraud or deception were carried out; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 1 July 1985, c. 6]: The employees referred to in my answer of 27 June openly submitted their names to the overseas office of one of the brokers involved in the British Telecom flotation, in the belief that they were eligible for the placing and commitment arrangements. The London office of that broking firm made placing and commitment applications on their behalf in view of the limited time available. All brokers to the BT issue were required to give undertakings to our merchant bank advisers that applicants introduced under the placing and commitment arrangements were institutions of a certain size and the broking firm involved now accepts that it was in error in allowing these particular applications to go forward without checking whether the employees were buying on their own behalf or as trustees of funds. Before giving my answer of 27 June I asked for the placing and commitment allocation to be re-checked. The employees names came to light and the broking firm which had submitted the applications was asked to confirm the basis on which they had been made. When it became clear to the employees concerned that they had applied erroneously under the placing and commitments arrangements, they volunteered to surrender the profits earned to the Marine Adventure Sailing Trust. These payments were made on or around 25 June. All commissions that were earned in respect of these applications have been returned. I have no reason for believing that this was other than a genuine and honest mistake on the part of the brokers and the applicants concerned.