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Written question asked by Lord Sikka (Labour) on Monday, 6 December 2021, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 December 2021. It was answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative) on Monday, 20 December 2021 on behalf of the Home Office.

Repossession Orders: Fraud

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government when the National Crime Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority received the first complaints alleging that banks had forged customer signatures to repossess homes, businesses and other property.

Answer

The Government expects all companies to obey the law and relevant regulations. Anyone with evidence of such forgery taking place should report it to their bank in the first instance. If their concerns remain, or they do not have a direct relationship with the lender, they should report it to the relevant authorities.

Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in individual cases. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires all authorised firms to have systems and controls in place to mitigate the risk that they be used to commit financial crime. Whilst the police have primary responsibility for investigating fraud the FCA also has powers to take a variety of enforcement action against firms that carry out fraudulent activity.

The chair of the Treasury Select Committee wrote to NCA Director General Lynne Owens on the issue of bank signature forgery in July 2019. The matter was assigned to the National Economic Crime Centre for consideration in September 2019.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL4745
Session
2021-22
Related items
Repossession Orders: Fraud
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Complaints Banks Fraud Repossession orders Financial Conduct Authority National Crime Agency
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk