Financial Services Act 2012

68 Cases in which Treasury may arrange independent inquiries

(1) This section applies in two cases.

(2) The first case is where it appears to the Treasury that—

(a) events have occurred in relation to—

(i) a collective investment scheme,

(ii) a person who is, or was at the time of the events, carrying on a regulated activity (whether or not as an authorised person), or

(iii) listed securities or an issuer of listed securities,

which posed or could have posed a serious threat to the stability of the UK financial system or caused or risked causing significant damage to the interests of consumers, and

(b) those events might not have occurred, or the threat or damage might have been reduced, but for a serious failure in—

(i) the system established by FSMA 2000, or by any previous statutory provision, for the regulation of such schemes, or of such persons and their activities, or the listing of securities, or

(ii) the operation of that system.

(3) The second case is where it appears to the Treasury that—

(a) events have occurred in relation to a recognised clearing house or a recognised inter-bank payment system which—

(i) posed or could have posed a serious threat to the stability of or confidence in the UK financial system, or

(ii) caused or risked causing significant damage to business or other interests throughout the United Kingdom, and

(b) those events might not have occurred, or the threat or damage might have been reduced, but for a serious failure in—

(i) the system established by Part 18 of FSMA 2000, or by any previous statutory provision, for the regulation of clearing houses,

(ii) the system established by Part 5 of the Banking Act 2009 for the regulation of inter-bank payment systems, or

(iii) the operation of either of those systems.

(4) If the Treasury consider that it is in the public interest that there should be an independent inquiry into the events and the circumstances surrounding them, they may arrange for an inquiry to be held under section 69.

(5) In this section—

• “event” does not include any event occurring before 1 December 2001 (but no such limitation applies to the reference in subsection (4) to surrounding circumstances);

• “recognised inter-bank payment system” means an inter-bank payment system, as defined by section 182 of the Banking Act 2009, that is a recognised system for the purposes of Part 5 of that Act.