Mp condemns equitable life cover up

Local Lib Dem MP David Laws has today condemned both the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for covering up crucial documents revealing the possibility of a failure to effectively regulate Equitable Life. This cover-up was revealed after David Laws MP grilled Howard Davies, Chairman of the FSA at a Treasury Select Committee hearing today.

David Laws MP said:

“I condemn the FSA’s and the Treasury’s refusal to release key documents which reveal what the FSA knew about the state of Equitable’s finances when it took over in 1999. The documents I asked for would have uncovered whether or not the FSA knew in 1999 that it may have been necessary to bar Equitable to new investors - a full two years before Equitable closed.

“In the Treasury Select Committee hearing I put it to Howard Davies, the Chairman of the FSA, that the FSA had failed to regulate Equitable Life effectively and failed to protect new investors. Simply refusing to give essential documents to Parliament does not fill me, or those who trusted the FSA, with confidence.

“This failure, and the lack of transparency and accountability in the regulator, raises serious concerns about the competence of the FSA, and about whether policy holders ought to be compensated”.

Category: MP Press Releases