Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Bill

moved Amendment No. 6: 6: Clause 3, page 4, line 20, at end insert— ““( ) For the purposes of paragraph 17 of Schedule 1 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (c.8) (power to charge fees) a function conferred on the Financial Services Authority by an order under this section is to be treated as a function conferred under or as a result of that Act.”” The noble Lord said: This amendment ensures that the FSA has powers to charge fees for any functions conferred on it under the Bill. It extends the FSA’s existing powers to charge fees under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. This is a consequence of extending Clause 3 to mutual insurers and to other EEA mutuals. It will be a precondition of a transfer to a subsidiary of an EEA mutual that safeguards equivalent to those applicable to UK mutuals are in place. Those safeguards will, first, give members of the transferring mutual membership rights in the holding mutual and, secondly, restrict demutualisation of the holding mutual and further transfers of the transferring mutual’s business. In most cases, transfers of business by mutual societies require FSA approval, and transferring mutuals will have to satisfy the FSA that these safeguards are in place. This could be more complex and difficult to demonstrate when the transfer is to a subsidiary of an EEA mutual. As this would result in additional work and, therefore, costs for the FSA, we and the FSA consider it appropriate that its fee-charging powers should be extended. I beg to move.