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419038

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Regulation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to bring forward legislation to regulate (a) digital currencies, (b) crowdfunding and (c) peer-to-peer lending.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	10491
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>At the March Budget, the Government said it would consult on how to regulate digital currency exchanges in the new Parliament.</p><p>Operating a P2P platform has been an activity regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since 2014. Crowdfunding is also a Regulated Activity and is subject to FCA rules.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:17:54 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

419041

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Islam
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of an Islamic bond.
	tabling member constituency	Hendon
	tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
	uin	10496
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>In June last year the UK became the first country outside of the Islamic world to issue sovereign Sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of bonds, cementing Britain’s position as the western hub for Islamic finance.</p><p>The £200 million of Sukuk will mature in 2019. They were sold to investors based in the UK and in the major hubs for Islamic finance around the world.</p><p>The Sukuk received very strong demand, delivering good value for the taxpayer. Orders for the Sukuk totalled around £2.3 billion.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:32:13 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

419043

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Technology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to attract international FinTech companies to the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Windsor
	tabling member printed	Adam Afriyie
	uin	10494
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Government is committed to making the UK the leading global FinTech hub, and has announced a large number of policy initiatives, including more supportive regulatory regimes for peer-to-peer, digital currencies, and other innovative firms.</p><p>The Government built on this record at the Summer Budget. First, Eileen Burbidge was appointed as the UK’s ‘Special Envoy for FinTech’, where she will represent UK interests in FinTech at home and around the world. Second, an international FinTech benchmarking exercise was announced to measure the UK’s performance and identify areas of best practice from around the world.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:34:55 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	1586 label Biography information for Adam Afriyie

419048

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Bank Cards: Fees and Charges
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data was used to assess the effect on merchants of exempting three party card schemes from interchange fee regulation as part of the EU Multilateral Interchange Fees regulation.
	tabling member constituency	North Antrim
	tabling member printed	Ian Paisley
	uin	10399
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The European Interchange Fee Regulation is directly applicable to UK law. The exemption for three party schemes was part of the European Commission’s original proposal, which can be found here:</p><p>www.eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52013PC0550&amp;from=EN</p><p>The final Regulation was agreed by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council in March this year.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:18:58 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4129 label Biography information for Ian Paisley

419055

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Exchange Rates
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the exchange rate of sterling.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	George Kerevan
	uin	10511
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Chancellor of the Exchequer has frequent discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on a wide range of issues relating to the UK economy.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 13:38:46 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4416 label Biography information for George Kerevan

419059

	registered interest
	date	16/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Remittances: Somalia
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure remittances flow through secure and accessible channels to Somalia.
	tabling member constituency	Hendon
	tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
	uin	10462
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Treasury has worked closely with industry and regulators to ensure that remittances continue to flow from the UK to Somalia.</p><p>The Treasury plays a leading role in the Action Group on Cross-Border Remittances, which brings together participants from industry, Government, regulators and international partners to maintain a continued dialogue on the withdrawal of banking services from the money service business sector, in order to develop a shared understanding of the expectations of all parties and help support remittance flows.</p><p>Over the past two years, the Action Group has overseen a number of initiatives to boost compliance in the Money Service Business (MSB) sector, and to give greater confidence to banks offering services to this sector:</p><ul><li><p>The group has worked closely with the supervisors to develop revised guidance for the MSB sector, and for those offering banking services to the sector, including a statement from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2015 clarifying the FCA’s expectations with regards to Banks’ management of money-laundering risk.</p></li><li><p>The National Crime Agency has worked collaboratively with the banking and MSB sectors to improve understanding and manage risk.</p></li><li><p>Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the supervisor of MSBs, more than doubled the number of compliance visits to MSBs in 2014, and launched an e-learning product to improve MSBs’ understanding of their obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations.</p><p>Alongside this work in the UK, the Government is also supporting targeted capacity building in Somalia, delivered through the World Bank. This includes a specific focus on improving regulation of the Somali remittance sector and supporting the drafting and introduction of necessary financial crime legislation. This goes hand-in-hand with our longer term programme to support the formalisation of the financial sector in Somalia.</p><p>These actions both in the UK and Somalia are intended to safeguard the vital remittances that flow between the two countries. The Action Group continues to monitor UK-Somalia remittance corridor closely and is reassured that there is currently no evidence to date of an interruption in the flow of remittances between the UK and Somalia, or any significant increase in remittance costs. This is a resilient and responsive market and the Government remains committed to supporting it and the diaspora communities that rely on these services.</p><p>Updates on the work of the Action Group can be found on the gov.uk website:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/action-group-on-cross-border-remittances</p></li></ul> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:25:56 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

419456

	registered interest
	date	17/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Money Laundering
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of shell companies being used to invest corrupt money in the UK in each of the last 10 years; and what steps he plans to take to tighten related money laundering regulations.
	tabling member constituency	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
	tabling member printed	Stuart Blair Donaldson
	uin	10587
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The opaque nature of such structures means that we are unable to produce an accurate estimate of how many are used to invest corrupt money in the UK. That is one reason why the Prime Minister put beneficial ownership transparency at the heart of the UK’s G8 Presidency in 2013. The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act received Royal Assent earlier this year and established a public register of company beneficial ownership information. This register will be operational from June 2016. The Act also abolished bearer shares and introduced a requirement for all company directors to be natural persons.</p><p>In Europe, we worked hard during the negotiation of the 4<sup>th</sup> Anti-Money Laundering Directive to encourage European partners to match our level of ambition to ensure that criminal activity would not simply be displaced. The Directive was formally adopted in June 2015 and requires all Member States to implement central registers of company beneficial ownership will access for competent authorities, obliged entities and those with a legitimate interest. Member states have until June 2017 to transpose these requirements.</p><p>The Government is continuing to take strong action to make the UK a hostile environment for corrupt money and to make it increasingly difficult for criminals to abuse corporate structures. We will shortly publish the UK’s first National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and have committed to publishing an Anti-Money Laundering Action Plan to address those issues which are highlighted by the National Risk Assessment.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 13:44:54 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4377 label Biography information for Stuart Blair Donaldson

419466

	registered interest
	date	17/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Freezing of Assets: Syria
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assets of (a) President Assad and (b) the Syrian government have been frozen in the UK; and what the value is of those assets.
	tabling member constituency	Walsall South
	tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
	uin	10552
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>In view of the situation in Syria, Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 of 18 January 2012 imposed an asset freeze against listed Syrian individuals and entities. The EU Regulation, which has direct effect in the UK, requires that all funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by listed persons are frozen.</p><p>Those listed under this regime include natural and legal persons, entities and bodies who have been identified as being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, persons and entities benefiting from or supporting the regime, and natural or legal persons associated with them. These persons and entities include, but are not limited to, President Assad and several members and agencies of the Syrian government.</p><p>The approximate aggregate value of funds frozen in UK jurisdiction under EU Regulation 36/2012 is £151,080,000 (based on an annual audit in September 2014). These funds continue to belong to the individuals and entities listed under the Regulation and are not seized or otherwise held by HM Government.</p><p>The Regulation states that HM Treasury can use this information only for the purpose for which it was provided. In order to comply with this requirement, and to comply with UK data protection law, the figure is provided on an aggregate basis so as not to disclose data relating to funds held by particular individuals or entities.</p><p>HM Treasury publishes the names of those subject to EU financial sanctions on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK, which can be found on the gov.uk website.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 13:42:04 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz

419474

	registered interest
	date	17/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Public Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of where the compensating permanent deficit or deficits will appear in the national income accounts as a result of his Department sustaining a permanent budget surplus.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	George Kerevan
	uin	10585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>In the UK National Accounts, the income and expenditure of different sectors (household, corporate, public sector, and the rest of the world) imply paths for each sector’s net lending or borrowing. By identity, these must sum to zero as for each borrower there must be a lender.</p><p>If the public sector were to run a budget surplus, there would be an offsetting change in the net lending position of one of the household, corporate and the rest of the world sectors. More information is available in the latest OBR Economic and Fiscal Forecast (July 2015). A link to the information is provided below:</p><p><a href="http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-july-2015/" target="_blank">http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-july-2015/</a></p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 14:33:19 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4416 label Biography information for George Kerevan

419475

	registered interest
	date	17/09/2015
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
	hansard heading	Royal Bank of Scotland
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of allegations of unusual volumes of short selling of RBS shares in the period immediately before the August 2015 share offering by UKFI.
	tabling member constituency	East Lothian
	tabling member printed	George Kerevan
	uin	10586
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2015 answer text <p>The Chancellor and UK Financial Investments (UKFI) take the allegations of unusual volumes of short selling of RBS shares very seriously. UKFI have analysed the volume of shares on loan in the period immediately before the August 2015 share offering.They have concluded that the increase in the volume of shares on loan ahead of the sale was not material, and did not impact on the final price achieved.</p> answering member constituency West Worcestershire answering member printed Harriett Baldwin question first answered 12/10/2015 13:39:49 answering member 4107 label Biography information for Harriett Baldwin
	tabling member	4416 label Biography information for George Kerevan