§ Mr. Tim SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the recent visit of the hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) to Washington.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 29 November 1989]: I met the chairmen of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Mrs. Wendy Lee Gramm) and of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Mr. Richard Breedon) in Washington on 16 and 17 November. In my talks with Mrs. Gramm and Mr. Breedon, I stressed the importance that the Government attach to co-operation between our respective regulatory authorities, to the mutual recognition of the effectiveness of our regulatory regimes, and to respect of each other's territorial jurisdiction. The CFTC is currently negotiating a compromise with the AFBD over that part of the exemption order governing the sale of United Kingdom futures and options products into the USA which relates to the segregation of customers' and brokers' funds. I hope that my firm representation on extraterritoriality will help the parties to come to a more satisfactory agreement.
The chairman of the SEC and I agreed to progress consideration of international regulatory issues, preferably with Japanese involvement. As global markets develop effective collaboration in standard setting and enforcement becomes more important. I also discussed how the United Kingdom could extend its memorandum of understanding with the USA on the exchange of information in matters relating to securities and futures.