§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he intends to seek to review and amend the protection afforded by the financial services legislation to FIM BRA members against libel actions and retaliatory loss of business should they report suspicions of wrongful activities to that body; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MaudeIf a FIMBRA member properly draws allegations of wrongdoing to the attention of a regulatory body having relevant regulatory functions under the FS Act his position will be no different from that of any other person acting similarly. Such communications should, in the absence of malice, be protected by qualified privilege, under the law of libel. I see no reason at this stage for seeking to change this position. If there has been any wrongful interference with the business of persons who have reported suspicions to a relevant body it shall be open to them to take appropriate legal action.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has concerning the total number of people employed by FIMBRA and each of the other self-regulatory organisations to scrutinise applications for membership; how many such applications were processed in each case in each of the last six months; and how many man hours per application were spent on average on each application.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish in theOfficial Report a copy of the guidelines issued by the Securities and Investments Board on the procedures which should be adopted by self-regulatory organisations such as FIMBRA when suspending their members.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish in theOfficial Report a copy of the guidelines adopted by FIMBRA concerning their procedures when suspending members.