Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed restriction of euroclearing to eurozone clearing houses should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government cannot opine on the potential cost of the ECB's location policy if enforced in the UK, until the Court of the European Union has ruled on this matter in a legal challenge brought by the UK.
The UK has brought this challenge because, if imposed, the policy would require UK-based and other non-Eurozone CCPs to relocate to the Euro area. We believe this breaches principles of EU law and the Single Market.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed ban on short selling should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
There is no proposed ban on short selling of securities so it is not possible for the Government to assess the costs.
The Short Selling Regulation, which came into force on 1 November 2012, is an EU-wide Regulation that lays down a common regulatory framework for powers and requirements related to the short selling of securities. In particular, it gives powers to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ban or impose restrictions on short selling of securities in certain circumstances, as well as impose the requirement on investors to disclose net short positions (both publicly, and privately to the FCA).
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed bonus caps should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The ‘bonus cap' provisions of the Capital Requirements Directive came into force at the beginning of 2014. Given this short time period, an estimate of the Exchequer impact of the cap cannot be made.
The ‘bonus cap' was introduced by the European Parliament into the CRD4 package without an appropriate economic impact assessment. This is part of the reason the UK is challenging this measure in the European Court of Justice.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed Prospectus Directive should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC was proposed by the European Commission on 30 May 2001. The Directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 December 2003 and was transposed into UK law before entering into force on 1 July 2005.
The Prospectus Directive was updated by the Amending Directive 2010/73/EU on 11 December 2010. The Amending Directive was transposed into UK law in The Prospectus Regulations 2012.
The Government published an Impact Assessment, which covers costs, alongside the Explanatory Memorandum to these Regulations. It is publically available on the www.legislation.gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers' Directive should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) entered into force on 22 July 2013.
Costs or benefits to the Exchequer as a result of the AIFMD will result from commercial decisions that have yet to be taken by investment management firms as to whether the regulatory cost of doing business in the UK against other jurisdictions leads them to increase or decrease their activity here. Therefore no reliable assessment can be made at this time. Nevertheless the Government will continue to monitor the effects of AIFMD on the UK investment management industry.
The Government has worked closely with industry to ensure that the requirements of AIFMD have been applied in as proportionate manner as possible so as to cause minimal disruption to UK firms and to maintain the UK's competitive status as a global fund management centre.
An impact assessment estimating the costs to UK business was published alongside the implementing regulations. It is publically available on the www.legislation.gov.uk website.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the eventual cost to HM Treasury of the European Union's proposed financial transaction tax should it be enforced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Deighton
It is likely that any eventual FTT directive will be significantly different to, and narrower than, the current draft proposal. We will assess any revised proposal carefully against our concerns.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the euro on youth unemployment in the European Union.
Answered by Lord Deighton
We have made no specific assessment. However the Government recognises that unemployment is the biggest social challenge facing the EU today, caused by slow growth and labour market barriers in Europe. Solving youth unemployment should involve creating flexible labour markets across the EU, and this is a matter of national competence.