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Unit Trusts (Electronic Communications) Order 2009

I am grateful to noble Lords for their constructive response to the order, which brings potential benefits in terms of reducing costs. I want to confirm the obvious point emphasised by the noble Lord, Lord Howard, that liability rests with the manager. It is of course the case, as the noble Lord, Lord Razzall, indicated, that we are concerned that liability remains with the fund manager where there are fraudulent instructions, even if it had taken reasonable steps. There is no doubt where the liability will rest. We have checked that out. As the noble Lord rightly says, the Investment Management Association recognised that the FSA rules will confirm that point. I stand guilty as charged on the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Howard, about a slight slip with regard to dates on the order which caused an element of delay. Even Homer nods on occasion and on this occasion the Treasury did. I apologise to the Committee for the fairly limited delay that occasioned. He is right to draw attention to government inefficiency on the rare occasions when he finds it.