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1437619

registered interest
date	02/03/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Credit Suisse: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, what assessment they have made of the report in The Financial Times on 2 March that staff at Credit Suisse had asked investors to destroy documents to prevent leaks regarding loans made to people who were later sanctioned; and what steps, if any, have they taken to prevent the UK operations of Credit Suisse from destroying such documents.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2022 answer text <p>Questions relating to individual firms’ compliance with regulatory requirements, including those relating to record keeping, are matters for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).</p><p> </p><p>The FCA is operationally independent from the Government. These questions have therefore been passed to the FCA who will respond directly to the noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.</p><p> </p><p>All breaches and suspected breach of sanctions must also be reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in HM Treasury as the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 15/03/2022 12:04:01 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1422173

registered interest
date	10/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Monetary Policy
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Bank of England regarding the reversal of its quantitative easing programme
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6191
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2022 answer text <p>Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England and this includes decisions on quantitative easing.</p><p>As set out in the letter exchange between the Chancellor and Governor on 3 February 2022, the Government indemnifies the Bank of England’s Asset Purchase Facility, the vehicle that delivers quantitative easing. As part of this, there are oversight arrangements in place, including regular risk oversight meetings between Treasury and Bank senior officials which monitor the scheme’s implementation and risks to the Exchequer.</p><p>The Governor set out in his letter exchange with the Chancellor that, were asset sales judged to be appropriate, the Bank would liaise with the DMO in order to minimise interference with the DMO's own issuance programme, and would consider the views of market participants as to how best to minimise disruption in private asset markets.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 22/02/2022 14:42:08 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1422174

registered interest
date	10/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	NatWest
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the statement published by the US Department of Justice on 21 December 2021 after the guilty plea by NatWest for various fraud schemes in the markets for US Treasury securities and futures contracts, what plans they have to commission an independent inquiry into the bank’s operations.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6192
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2022 answer text <p>‘Spoofing’ is the practice of placing orders in financial markets with the intention of cancelling said orders and attempting to profit from any resulting price changes. It is prohibited under the UK Market Abuse Regulation, as it gives false or misleading signals as to the supply or demand of a financial instrument.</p><p> </p><p>In the UK, the FCA is responsible for identifying and preventing market abuse, and taking enforcement action against persons committing market abuse where appropriate. The FCA actively monitors UK markets for potential market manipulation, and any investigation into that activity would be conducted by the regulator. UK trading venues and persons professionally arranging or executing transactions who are located in the UK are required to have arrangements in place to monitor, detect, and report such market manipulation to the FCA.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn grouped question UIN HL6193 question first answered 23/02/2022 15:37:04 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1422175

registered interest
date	10/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services: Fraud
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the US Department of Justice’s fine of $35 million on NatWest Markets Plc for “spoofing” on 21 December 2021, what plans they have to investigate the prevalence of similar practices in the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6193
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2022 answer text <p>‘Spoofing’ is the practice of placing orders in financial markets with the intention of cancelling said orders and attempting to profit from any resulting price changes. It is prohibited under the UK Market Abuse Regulation, as it gives false or misleading signals as to the supply or demand of a financial instrument.</p><p> </p><p>In the UK, the FCA is responsible for identifying and preventing market abuse, and taking enforcement action against persons committing market abuse where appropriate. The FCA actively monitors UK markets for potential market manipulation, and any investigation into that activity would be conducted by the regulator. UK trading venues and persons professionally arranging or executing transactions who are located in the UK are required to have arrangements in place to monitor, detect, and report such market manipulation to the FCA.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn grouped question UIN HL6192 question first answered 23/02/2022 15:37:04 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1422177

registered interest
date	10/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Money Laundering
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the court judgment in R (The Financial Conduct Authority) V National Westminster Bank Plc on 13 December 2021, what plans they have to introduce legislation to enable clawback of remuneration from directors of entities found guilty of money laundering.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6195
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2022 answer text <p>The Government does not intend to introduce legislation to enable claw back of remuneration from directors of entities found guilty of money laundering. This is because the UK financial services regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) – jointly set requirements for firms, including National Westminster Bank Plc, regarding the claw back of promised, or paid, remuneration.</p><p> </p><p>Under these requirements, where misconduct or material poor performance occurs - including for anti-money laundering controls failings - firms would need to consider whether promised or paid remuneration can be justified, or should be returned (“clawed back”) for senior and materially risk-taking staff. The regulators have supervisory and enforcement tools to deploy in cases where they are not satisfied that a firm has complied with their rules.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA’s successful prosecution of NatWest Plc in 2021 represents the first criminal prosecution brought by the FCA against a bank under the Money Laundering Regulations, and demonstrates the FCA’s commitment to using the full range of powers available to tackle anti-money laundering failings.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 22/02/2022 14:45:13 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1420180

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Energy: Price Caps
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect the increase in the energy price cap will have on the (1) Retail Price Index, and (2) Consumer Price Index.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6051
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>In its February Monetary Policy Report (MPR), the Bank of England set out its view of the likely impact of the cap increase, using information available just prior to Ofgem’s cap announcement, and prior to the announcement of the Government support packages. The Bank’s February 2022 MPR can be found on the Bank of England website.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for Budget Responsibility will update its view of the outlook for CPI and RPI inflation in its spring 2022 forecast on 23 March.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises that many households will need support to help deal with the rising cost of energy prices. Global supply chain disruptions and higher energy prices both represent challenges that are driving higher inflation. These are global problems which we are working with our international partners on, and we are supporting households with the cost of living, providing support worth around £12bn this financial year and next alongside an announced £9.1bn package to help households with rising energy bills in 2022-23.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 21/02/2022 17:47:45 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1420185

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Disguised Remuneration Loan Charge Review: Prosecutions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish a table showing the number of promoters of disguised remuneration schemes who have been prosecuted; and the outcomes of such prosecutions.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6054
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in and of itself a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.</p><p> </p><p>On that basis, one individual involved in the promotion of Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes has been prosecuted. They received a sentence of two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, and 300 hours of “unpaid work”.</p><p> </p><p>A number of individuals are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC for offences linked to DR Schemes.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, since 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences. The majority of these convictions relate to promoters.</p><p> </p><p>The Government and HMRC are committed to tackling promoters and operators of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote DR loan schemes.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 21/02/2022 17:51:48 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1420187

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the facilitation of tax avoidance a crime.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL6055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2022 answer text <p>HMRC has a range of criminal and civil powers available to it to tackle those who try to cheat the tax system and will continue to use its anti-avoidance regimes to challenge the entities and individuals who facilitate avoidance schemes. These regimes include Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes, Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes, and the Enablers regimes, which impose significant penalties on promoters if they refuse to comply with various conditions.</p><p> </p><p>There are also a range of possible criminal offences, such as cheating the public revenue, fraudulent evasion of Income Tax or VAT, or the general offence of fraud. Where the behaviour of avoidance promoters strays into these offences, they will be considered for criminal investigation.</p><p> </p><p>Since April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements promoted and marketed as tax avoidance schemes. The courts ordered over 100 years of custodial sentences. The majority of these individuals were promoters.</p> answering member printed Baroness Penn question first answered 21/02/2022 17:51:30 answering member 4726 label Biography information for Baroness Penn
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1404198

registered interest
date	18/01/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Business: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report HMRC responses to inaccurate claims, published on 12 January, what is the methodology for estimating the amount lost to fraud and error; what is the value of these claims; and what is the forecasted expenditure for such claims, for (1) the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (2) the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme phases 1 to 3, and (3) the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL5515
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2022 answer text <p>The Government introduced unprecedented COVID support, helping millions of people across the UK. The schemes were designed to protect against Error and Fraud (E&amp;F) by only making grants to individuals and businesses matched to information already on HMRC systems wherever possible, preventing ineligible claims, blocking suspicious claims up front, and investing in post-scheme compliance.</p><p> </p><p>The latest E&amp;F estimates and expenditure across the COVID-19 support schemes are included in HMRC’s 2021 Annual Report and Accounts, released on 4 November 2021, which can be found on the gov.uk website.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC has published a technical document alongside the Annual Report and Accounts 2020 to 2021 detailing the methodology for measuring E&amp;F in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) phases 1 to 3, and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme (EOHO). This can be found on the gov.uk website.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC aim to produce updated E&amp;F estimates for CJRS and SEISS by Summer 2022.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. Anyone who keeps money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces repaying up to double the amount, plus interest, and potentially criminal prosecution in serious cases.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC established the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce and is estimated to recover approximately £800 million to £1 billion in the two years to 2022-23, on top of around £500 million recovered in the year 2020-21. HMRC will continue to address fraud and error in the schemes beyond the duration of the taskforce.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 31/01/2022 15:26:27 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1385212

registered interest
date	06/12/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks: Inquiries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the European Commission’s €344 million fine on UBS, Barclays, RBS, HSBC and Credit Suisse on 2 December for operating a foreign exchange cartel, what plans they have to appoint an independent inquiry into the operations of the UK arms of these banks.
tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
uin	HL4744
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>The UK’s independent financial services regulator, the FCA, investigated misconduct in the foreign exchange markets and fined six firms (Citibank, HSBC, JP Morgan, RBS, UBS, and Barclays) a total of £1.4 billion in 2014 and 2015 for failures of systems to control trading practices.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside this, the European Commission opened a competition investigation in 2013, into the same issue, including covering any harm within the UK. In accordance with the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, the EU has continued to be responsible for the case, because it was initiated before the end of the transition period. The EU shall reimburse the UK for its share of the amount of the fine once the fine has become definitive.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 16/12/2021 16:29:46 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka