Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Carrington on initiating this debate on the international situation. I agree with those other noble Lords who have drawn attention to the fact that this is just the kind of debate that does much to underpin the work of the House. I hope that it will continue to be a feature of our debates and deliberations in future. I was also delighted that my...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, will the Minister accept that there is widespread concern about the way in which the case of Konrad Kalejs was dealt with and, in particular, the evidence that he was interviewed by the police but only to ask him how he had got into the country and when he proposed to leave? At no stage was it ever put to him that he had been deported from the United States because it was believed...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, although your Lordships will be aware of the interest I have previously declared as senior partner of Beachcroft Wansbroughs, may I also mention that over the past 12 months I have been involved in the formation of a new trade body called the Association of Independent Financial Advisers. I have the honour to be its founding chairman. Perhaps I may start by saying that I join in the...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I thank the Minister for having already answered the point that I was about to make. In the light of his answer, I am a little concerned about the extension of the definition to persons who have rights or interests which may be adversely affected by the use of services by other persons. That broadens the definition by moving away from some sort of causation to a general adverse effect. That...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I welcome the opportunity to speak to Amendment No. 74E, which is grouped with the two amendments tabled by my noble friend Lord Elton. Under the amendment there would be established a panel known as a small business practitioner panel, which would have to be established in the general duty to consult arrangements set out in Clause 7. I have previously drawn the attention of noble Lords to...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I am disappointed with the Minister's words. I hope he will not think me unreasonable, but, on behalf of the small business sector--particularly as the noble Lord has widespread experience of that sector--I take some offence at the amendment being dismissed on the grounds that if one extends a panel to small businesses one extends one to every conceivable group of practitioners. Surely the...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: moved Amendment No. 74E: After Clause 8, insert the following new clause--
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, in agreeing with my noble friend Lord Saatchi, I respond to a number of points that have been made by the noble Lords, Lord Barnett and Lord Peston. First, it is not the fact that the Government seek to improve the Bill that is at fault, but that they should try to do that while at the same time debating parts of the Bill that they already admit need further amendment. The answer...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: Having heard the Minister's explanation I am still a little confused. From the way in which I understood what he said, I believe that deleting subsections (1) and (2) of Clause 131, which is the effect of the Minister's Amendment No. 230ZA--which, I must confess, I have only just seen; indeed, I have only just received his kind letter explaining the amendment--might well have a significant...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I am extremely grateful to the Minister for that explanation. All I should say in passing is that Part IV deals with applications which bring into effect the whole bureaucratic process involving payments by the applicant and a whole series of administrative arrangements. I was referring to the discretionary power of the PIA which could be exercised without an application. However, as the...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I am grateful to the Minister.
Lord Hunt of Wirral: It would be most helpful if the noble Lord could give some consideration to the European dimension here. As he will know, a wide range of moves are presently taking place in the European Union to try to take further steps in the prevention and detection of financial crime. I hope that this new clause will enable that kind of co-operation to gather strength. However, a problem may arise in...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, first, I thank my noble friend for his very kind remarks. However, I pass them on to my noble friend Lord Waldegrave, who, with the then Prime Minister, John Major, was very much the brains and the spearhead behind the publication of the White Paper in 1993 and the code itself in 1994. When I took over as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1994, I and my successor, my noble...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank the Minister. I appreciate the flexibility that the noble Lord is showing when dealing with certain very fundamental questions about this Bill. However, perhaps we should bear in mind the fact that the FSA issued a press release in which it said it was working closely, "with our German supervisory colleagues ... with whom we already co-operate closely, to arrive at a...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: moved Amendment No. 150: Page 66, line 5, after ("from,") insert ("dependent on,").
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, first I thank the Minister for having generously taken the time to meet the Association of British Insurers and the British Bankers' Association, together with myself, to discuss the definition of "consumer". To quote my noble friend Lord Kingsland, I was being offered the "Lord Hunt of Wirral facility". I have never been able to probe exactly what this means, but if it means the...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank the Minister for the generous way in which he has approached this subject and for his willingness to listen and to continue the search for clarity. We are all seeking to make the Bill more certain, particularly so far as concerns definitions. The way in which the Minister laid out how he believes the definition of "consumer" has been circumscribed by the context in which it...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: moved Amendment No. 161XA: Page 110, line 21, at end insert ("; and ( ) for transferring to the scheme manager a right of recovery against that person").
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, in moving this amendment, I should like to raise an important point about the financial services compensation scheme. In essence, as your Lordships will know, it is proposed to have the power to extinguish policyholders' rights to recovery and replace those rights with a claim under the compensation scheme. So the compensation scheme will have a new right to proceed as a creditor of...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response. The amendment arises from the concern about the effect on reinsurance contracts and he has given some reassuring words which I should like to consider and I know that the Association of British Insurers would also wish to read what he said. In those circumstances, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
