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

The hon. Gentleman has summarised the single most important defence for any such change. It is true that there will already be a legal requirement for the most direct stakeholders to have an opportunity to vote on the matter. The Minister may wish to put something on the record for future reference in case the legislation is ever applied in controversial circumstances. I do not share the hon. Member for Fareham's concerns about Lords amendment No. 3. He spoke of the dangers of a potential merger between a financial mutual in the United Kingdom and a vineyard or wine-making co-operative in the south of France. I observe in parenthesis that judging by the current performance of my endowment mortgage I probably should have invested my money in French wine, so it may not necessarily be a bad decision. Nevertheless, there is a practical and strategic question to be posed. If for some reason a financial mutual in the United Kingdom decided to merge with a co-operative of whatever sort elsewhere in Europe, presumably the usual channels would have to be pursued and the members of the financial mutual would have an opportunity to vote on it. So if the senior management of a financial mutual were able to persuade its British membership that the merger was indeed in the interests of the organisation, who are we to prevent it from taking place? It is obvious—in my view, at least—that the organisation would still be bound by the regulations as they pertain in the United Kingdom, and that the security of the investments of the stakeholders in the United Kingdom would therefore be preserved. I do not entirely understand what the hon. Member for Fareham fears could happen that would not be in the interests of the organisations concerned, and would not be authorised by the stakeholders.