§ Ms. MowlamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department is intending to pay compensation to those investors who dealt with Dunsdale Securities when it was under Department of Trade and Industry licence.
§ Mr. RedwoodI see no grounds for considering compensation payments to investors who placed money with Dunsdale Securities Ltd.
§ Ms. MowlamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) of 26 June,Official Report, column 129, (1) whether the auditors' certificates issued by his Department to Dunsdale Securities were qualified in any way;
(2) whether the auditors of Dunsdale Securities appointed by his Department were fully recognised by an appropriate accountancy body.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 12 July 1990]: The Department does not issue audit certificates to companies or appoint their auditors, nor did it do so under the regulatory system put in place by the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958 which was repealed in April 1988 upon entry into force of the Financial Services Act 1986. The auditors' reports and verifications provided to the Department in relation to applications and annual monitoring returns for Dunsdale Securities were in accordance with the requirements of the Dealers in Securities (Licensing) Regulations 1983 made under the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958: they were not subject to any qualifications. Dunsdale Securities Ltd. employed auditors who, when they signed the reports and verifications, were members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, were qualified in accordance with the law and held a practising certificate issued by the institute. One of the auditors was subsequently excluded from membership of the institute.