§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct the Bank of England to ensure that individual shareholders in public companies continue to receive company reports and so on, and share certificates in any new trading system for the stock exchange.
§ Mr. NelsonI take it that the hon. Member is referring to the proposed paperless share settlement system called CREST. The Bank of England has designed CREST to permit individual shareholders, if they wish, to participate in CREST while remaining on the company register and so receive company reports, etc. direct from the companies in which they hold shares. Moreover, membership of the system will be voluntary, so that any shareholder may instead continue to hold share certificates and remain on the company register. This may be a simpler option for the less active smaller investor.