INQUIRY INTO FAREPAK

Early day motion 350, tabled 29 November 2006 by Lord Field of Birkenhead (Labour). Signed by 120 members.

That this House calls on the Department of Trade and Industry inquiry into the collapse of Farepak to consider in detail the role played by HBOS and in particular the request by the directors of either Farepak or EHR, and the subsequent refusal of the bank, to ringfence or place in a trust account all the savers' money from September and October 2006, which would have amounted to approximately £10 million by the year end, and to examine HBOS' insistence on sweeping all savers' balances within Farepak's NatWest collection account into the parent company for onward transmission for the benefit and reduction of the HBOS overdraft; further calls on investigators to examine the role of HBOS in the non-sale of Farepak to a trade buyer and its refusal to sanction such a sale; further calls on the inquiry, in the light of this, and having regard to HBOS' other actions, to consider the possibility that HBOS thereby acted as a shadow director; and further calls on the inquiry to consider HBOS' role in preventing an orderly sale of EHR and Farepak.

Signatures by party: Labour 85, Liberal Democrat 19, Conservative 7, DUP 4, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Independent 1.