Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether will release the proposal sent by the Treasury to supply chain financiers to be incorporated in the Covid Corporate Financing Facility fund, as referred to by Rt Hon David Cameron in evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on 13 May.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Treasury has provided both the call for evidence document which it circulated seeking views on a potential adjustment to the CCFF for supply chain finance and the feedback statement provided after the consultation closed to the Treasury Committee, and they have been published here:
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5758/documents/66074/default/
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to hold an inquiry into (1) the granting of a banking licence to Wyelands Bank, and (2) its subsequent supervision by the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Since the financial crisis, we have implemented sweeping reforms to financial regulation. Through the Financial Services Act 2012, we dismantled the failed tripartite system, and replaced it with a set of regulators with clear objectives and responsibilities, with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) responsible for the prudential supervision of the UK banking sector, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for ensuring proper conduct in line with UK financial regulations.
Wyelands Bank remains authorised by the PRA and regulated by the PRA and the FCA; however, as shown on the Financial Services Register, its permission to perform regulated activities is subject to limitations.
Although HM Treasury does not comment on supervisory matters, we continuously monitor risks across the financial sector and escalate our response where appropriate in coordination with the independent financial authorities – the FCA, PRA and Bank of England – as well as relevant government departments.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as a creditor of Greensill Capital and Greensill Bank, they will ask the administrators of those companies and related parties (1) to examine the personal expense claims made by (a) directors, (b) executives, and (c) advisors, for non-business related payments, including use of private jets, and (2) to ensure that the companies reported such non-cash benefits to the relevant income tax bodies, including HMRC.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government provides a guarantee, rather than direct funding, to lenders who are participating in the Bounce Back Loan, CBIL or CLBIL Schemes. Lenders participating in the Schemes must source their own funding, as they do for standard business lending.
Greensill Bank is a German bank, and so is regulated by the German supervisory authority, BaFin.
The administrator of Greensill Capital must send the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, a report on the conduct of all directors who were in office in the last 3 years of the company’s trading.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which department or agency is responsible for managing the sensitivity of (1) public accounts, and (2) expenditure, to interest rate movements.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As the government’s economic and finance ministry, HM Treasury is responsible for maintaining control over public spending, including debt interest expenditure. The Office for Budget Responsibility publish estimates of the sensitivity of debt interest spending to changes in interest rates in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook. We have strong independent economic institutions and a well-established macroeconomic framework that ensures we are well placed to deal with risks to our public finances.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are liable for any conditional financial obligations under the financing arrangements between the Scottish Government and Liberty Steel Dalzell Limited and related parties in connection with Lochaber and related power purchase agreements, following the investment made by the Scottish government in 2016.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It is for the Scottish Government to decide what financial guarantees it provides in devolved areas and for managing any associated costs from its overall resources as set out in chapter 8 of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the release of transcripts of text messages between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Rt Hon David Cameron, what is the nature of the changes to the Covid Corporate Financing Faculty that the Chancellor of the Exchequer "pushed" officials to pursue with the Bank of England; and why such changes were rejected by the Bank.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As outlined in HM Treasury’s Freedom of Information releases on this issue – as well as in the Chancellor’s letter to the Shadow Chancellor, Greensill approached HM Treasury regarding access to the Covid Corporate Finance Facility (CCFF)
These meetings covered requests made by Greensill to, first, allow them to access the scheme by changing its terms and, second, to broaden its scope to allow supply chain finance (SCF) providers to access the scheme in general.
As is a matter of public record both of these requests were rejected but it is right that HM Treasury listened to – and gave due consideration to – all potential options to support businesses to survive the pandemic given the extraordinary challenges facing UK SMEs last Spring.Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the statutory (1) role, and (2) responsibilities, of authorised corporate directors following the performance of Link Financial Solutions in the collapse of Woodford Investments.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has a robust framework for financial regulation and that consumers are treated fairly. The FCA is responsible for overseeing the conduct standards of financial services firms.
The Government does not currently have plans to review the statutory role of authorised corporate directors (ACDs). However, the FCA is currently reviewing how effectively responsibilities are undertaken by ‘host’ ACDs – which are ACDs outside the group structure of the delegate investment manager. The FCA expects to complete this work in the first half of this year.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what talks they have held with banks about requests by the EU to move more (1) functions, and (2) people, from offices in the EU to the UK; and what assessment they have made of any such requests.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Treasury officials and Ministers carry out extensive engagement with the banking sector, regularly meeting with a wide range of firms as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available online[1].
The Bank of England (through the Prudential Regulation Authority) and the Financial Conduct Authority are responsible for supervising financial services firms in the UK.
The EU’s actions are fundamentally for them to articulate. We believe open markets are a global good, and they are best supported by global standards and effective regulation. Fragmentation is not in anyone’s interests.
The Chancellor set out in November our ambitious plans to renew the UK’s position as the world’s pre-eminent financial centre – ensuring it is more open, technologically advanced, a global leader in green finance, and of course well-regulated.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about Greensill Capital and anti-money laundering regulations; and on what dates the FCA visited Greensill Capital in relation to such regulations.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The FCA is the supervisor for firms registered as Annex 1 firms under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
Greensill Capital UK (Limited) was not authorised by the FCA. It was a registered entity under the Money Laundering Regulations, which means that it was subject to FCA regulation only for compliance with Anti-Money Laundering rules, not for wider conduct issues. Greensill Capital Securities Ltd was an Appointed Representative of an FCA-regulated firm, under whose supervision it could conduct some regulated activities. However, it was not itself supervised or authorised by the FCA. Greensill Capital Securities Ltd is no longer an Appointed Representative
It would not be appropriate for HM Treasury to comment on the actions taken by an independent regulator regarding an individual firm.
Asked by: Lord Myners (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Bank of England has required Wyelands Bank to return all deposits or a category of deposits; if so, when; whether Wyelands remains an approved bank on the Bank of England list of banks; and if not, why this has not been publicly announced.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The PRA published a statement on its website on 3 March 2021, confirming that Wyelands Bank had been required to operationalise an orderly repayment of its deposits. Wyelands Bank has since published a statement on its website confirming that its deposit accounts have been closed and that depositors were repaid on 17 March. Wyelands have instructed any depositors who have not received their funds to contact their Customer Service team.
Wyelands remains authorised by the PRA and regulated by the PRA and the FCA; however, as shown on the Financial Services Register, its permission to perform regulated activities is subject to limitations.