§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the risk and extent of speculative movement of funds in connection with possible takeovers or conversions of building societies, and the duties of boards of societies in such circumstances; and if he will make a statement. [23266]
§ Mr. NelsonMonitoring the movement of funds within the building society sector is one of the tasks of the Building Societies Commission.
Boards of societies faced with speculative flows can respond in a number of ways. These include varying the rates of interest on offer and withdrawing certain types of accounts. In reacting to proposals for takeovers or conversions which may give rise to such flows, the Building Societies Act requires boards to take account not only of the financial interests of their current members, but of the longer-term objectives of the society.