Asked by: Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Bank of England has engaged in any selling, leasing, loaning, hypothecating or re-hypothecating either independently or in conjunction with other parties, which could have had the effect of lowering or suppressing the quoted market price of gold since May 2010.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Bank of England has not been active in the gold market during or since May 2010, either in its own capacity, or acting as agent for Her Majesty's Treasury for the UK's official reserves (the “Exchange Equalisation Account” or EEA).
As a result, the Bank did not engage in any selling, leasing, loaning, hypothecating or re-hypothecating of gold during this period.
Asked by: Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 29W, if he will make an assessment of the effect of US regulatory authorities' interventions in the gold market on gold market-related securities in ISAs.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government monitors developments in the gold market including, where relevant, regulatory action in other jurisdictions. The Government is committed to taking action, whenever necessary, to ensure the efficient functioning of these essential markets.
Asked by: Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of unresolved cases of mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government has not made an estimate of the number of unresolved cases of mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.
If a borrower feels the risks were not explained properly to them when they took out an endowment mortgage, in the first instance they should complain to the company through which they bought the product. Customers who then feel that their complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily are able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) - an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases, which is free for consumers to use.
Asked by: Mark Williams (Liberal Democrat - Ceredigion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to resolve unresolved cases of the mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government has not made an estimate of the number of unresolved cases of mis-selling of mortgage endowment policies.
If a borrower feels the risks were not explained properly to them when they took out an endowment mortgage, in the first instance they should complain to the company through which they bought the product. Customers who then feel that their complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily are able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) - an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases, which is free for consumers to use.