§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice he has received from the Securities and Investments Board about conflicts between the Financial Services Act 1986 and trust law.
§ Mr. NelsonI have looked into the recent allegations that the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation warned the Government that it could not do its job properly because of problems over the relationship between the Financial Services Act regime and trust law. Neither the Securities and Investments Board nor I have found any evidence to substantiate these allegations. IMRO and the SIB made representations to the DTI over a number of years about the legal uncertainty they believed was created by the interaction of the Financial Services Act and trust law. However. there was no suggestion that this uncertainty posed a threat to investor protection. The SIB's conclusion is that neither legal uncertainties created by the relationship between the Financial Services Act and trust law nor the existence of IM RO's special occupational pensions scheme regime made any material difference to IM RO's regulation of the Maxwell pension fund companies.