Speaking in the House of Commons, Alok Sharma asks the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Interest Rate Swap Mis-selling whether the Financial Conduct Authority’s redress scheme, adopted as a result of the mis-selling of complex interest rate derivatives to small and medium sized businesses, should have been a statutory agreement rather than voluntary.

Alok Sharma (Reading West) (Con): This is, of course, a voluntary arrangement that has been entered into. Does my hon. Friend think it would have been better if it had been a statutory agreement, which would have led to much more transparency?

Guto Bebb: My hon. Friend makes a very important and interesting point. There was a need at the outset to ensure that the issue of redress was addressed as quickly as possible and it was felt that a voluntary scheme would do that without the need for a fully judicial process. However, in view of the lack of transparency in the scheme as it stands, I sympathise with my hon. Friend’s point.

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