Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what dates the tripartite meetings between the Financial Conduct Authority, directors of Kuflink Ltd and related entities, and their auditors took place; and what was discussed at each such meeting.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Prudential Regulation authority carried out capital adequacy tests on Kuflink Ltd and related entities; and what was the outcome of those tests.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
As you may be aware, Kufflink Ltd is not a regulated deposit taking firm, i.e. a bank, and hence are not regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority. Peer to peer firms are instead regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which in this instance extends to rules regarding capital requirements.
The FCA is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and therefore it is not appropriate to request information regarding capital adequacy tests of individual firms.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact of the administration of (1) Greensill Capital (UK) Limited, and (2) Greensill Capital Management Company (UK) Limited, upon entities regulated and authorised by the (a) Financial Conduct Authority, and (b) Prudential Regulation Authority.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. The Minister will write directly to the Member with a response shortly.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact of the collapse of Archegos Capital Management upon entities (1) regulated, and (2) authorised, by the (a) Financial Conduct Authority, and (b) Prudential Regulation Authority.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. The Minister will write directly to the Member with a response shortly.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on what dates capital adequacy and stress tests were carried out on Greensill Capital; and what the outcome was of those checks.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Greensill Capital (UK) Limited was not authorised by the FCA. It was a registered entity under the Money Laundering Regulations, which means that the FCA supervised it but 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.
At no time has the Bank of England authorised or supervised Greensill Capital (UK) Limited or any member of their group.
Given Greensill Capital was not authorised by the Bank of England or the FCA no capital adequacy or stress tests were required or carried out.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the tax tribunal judgment in Odey Asset Management LLP and others v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 31 (TC), what penalties have been levied upon Ogier Trustee (Jersey) Limited.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what records they have of (1) the dates of meetings between the Financial Conduct Authority, the directors of Greensill Capital, and that company’s auditors, and (2) the details of matters discussed at any such meetings.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the penalties levied on accounting firms for designing and marketing unlawful tax avoidance schemes.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cannot comment on individual cases. HMRC will investigate allegations of wrongdoing brought to their attention.
The Government is determined to tackle promoters and enablers of tax avoidance schemes and in March 2020, HMRC published their strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The strategy outlines how HMRC will continue to take robust actions against promoters and enablers of tax avoidance.
Finance Bill 2021 includes new measures which will strengthen the existing anti-avoidance regimes and help HMRC act more swiftly against promoters. The Government has also announced a further package of measures to ensure promoters face stronger sanctions more quickly; the consultation was published on 23 March.
These proposals build on the enablers of defeated tax avoidance legislation that was introduced in 2017 and include provision for the publication of information, including the name of the enabler and the total number and amount of penalties incurred by the enabler, if they have been charged 50 or more penalties or £25,000 in penalties in any one year.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the judgment by the Court of Appeal in the case of GDF Suez Teesside Led v Revenue And Customs [2018] EWCA Civ 2075 on 5 October 2018, what action they have taken, if any, against Ernst & Young for designing and marketing an unlawful tax avoidance scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cannot comment on individual cases. HMRC will investigate allegations of wrongdoing brought to their attention.
The Government is determined to tackle promoters and enablers of tax avoidance schemes and in March 2020, HMRC published their strategy for tackling promoters of tax avoidance schemes. The strategy outlines how HMRC will continue to take robust actions against promoters and enablers of tax avoidance.
Finance Bill 2021 includes new measures which will strengthen the existing anti-avoidance regimes and help HMRC act more swiftly against promoters. The Government has also announced a further package of measures to ensure promoters face stronger sanctions more quickly; the consultation was published on 23 March.
These proposals build on the enablers of defeated tax avoidance legislation that was introduced in 2017 and include provision for the publication of information, including the name of the enabler and the total number and amount of penalties incurred by the enabler, if they have been charged 50 or more penalties or £25,000 in penalties in any one year.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what record they have of (1) letters, (2) emails, (3) phone calls, (4) text messages, and (5) other communications, from former Prime Minister David Cameron to officials in (a) the Treasury, and (b) the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in connection with Greensill Capital.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Senior civil servants and ministers routinely meet and correspond with a range of private sector stakeholders. Transparency releases are published on a quarterly basis, and are currently publicly available for Senior Official and Ministerial meetings up to and including September 2020, which is in line with normal reporting timelines on disclosures.