Financial Services and Markets Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:45 pm on 16 March 2000.

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Photo of Baroness O'Cathain Baroness O'Cathain Conservative 4:45, 16 March 2000

I thank the noble Lord for giving way. That is not the sole reason for having two posts. He knows that perfectly well. He is just trying to goad me, as is his normal role. Perhaps I can add, as an aside, that I happen to serve in an organisation of which he is chairman, and he does not act as a psychiatrist; he acts as an autocrat. I know that he will take that in the best possible way.

The reality is that one of the roles of a chairman is to appoint the chief executive and to make sure that the chief executive carries out the wishes of the board. The chief executive is, of course, on the board, but it is a useful stopgap for the board to have on it somebody who is appointed by the board for the benefit of all the stakeholders. I take this brief opportunity to say that I am not saying that company boards--corporate governance is the in-thing at the moment--are there solely to look after the interests of shareholders; they have a lot of other "stakeholders", such as the staff, the general public and the good of the country. The noble Lord is trying to simplify what I said and perhaps I used too much shorthand.