Arch Cru Compensation Scheme
Debate between Lord Beith and Tom Greatrex(13 years, 1 month ago)
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Tom Greatrex
I agree wholeheartedly with my right hon. Friend. I hope to make a couple of remarks about that package in a few moments.
Sir Alan Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (LD)
May I return to the point that was made a moment ago? Does it not appear that the structure set up for Arch Cru was designed to ensure that the FSA did not notice what was going on, although the setting up of the structure should have been noticed by the FSA and picked up at an earlier stage?
Tom Greatrex
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his intervention. When I spent some time with representatives of the FSA, they showed me a diagram of the structure of the fund and it was amazing to see quite how labyrinthine it was and is. The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that that is the root of part of the problems. At the same time, seeking to say, “Well, that’s the responsibility of the Guernsey regulator. That’s the responsibility of someone else,” does not deal with the central issue. That is the lesson for the future that we need to be conscious of.