§ Lord Williams of Elvelasked Her Majesty's Government:
What procedures DTI officials adopt and have adopted for issuing licences under the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958, at which level the decisions whether or not to issue a licence has been taken since June 1987, and what has been the line of ministerial responsibility for such decisions since June 1987.
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Lord Young of Graffham)The dealers in Securities (Licensing) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983 No. 587) established what information was required from applicants for licences to deal in securities under the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958; how that information was to be verified; and the arrangements for monitoring during the currency of a licence. The level at which decisions were taken on whether or not to issue a licence depended on the questions raised by individual applications. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs and I were responsible for the licensed dealer system under the 1958 Act from June 1987 until 29th April 1988, when the new regime under the Financial Services Act 1986 took effect.