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Clause 60, page 32, line 3, at end insert--
Clause 62, page 32, line 43, leave out from ("Director") to end of line 44.
Clause 63, page 34, line 3, leave out from ("Director") to end of line 4.
Clause 66, page 36, line 12, after ("estimates") insert ("forecasts").
Page 36, line 14, after ("estimates") insert ("forecasts").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 39 to 43 en bloc.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 39 to 43--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
("(b) the civil liability of an undertaking for harm caused by its infringement of Community law.").
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After Clause 68, insert the following new clause--
(". In section 83 of the Fair Trading Act 1973--
(a) in subsection (1), omit "Subject to subsection (1A) below"; and
(b) omit subsection (1A) (reports on monopoly references to be transmitted to certain persons at least twenty-four hours before laying before Parliament).").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 44. I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 103, 106 and 107. These amendments are intended to reduce the risk of leaks of market sensitive information, and to protect the interest of companies and their investors, including the many individual members of the public who are shareholders.
The amendments repeal Section 83(1A) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 which requires that copies of a Monopolies and Mergers Commission monopoly report must be sent to every person named in the report as a person in whose favour a monopoly situation exists at least 24 hours in advance of the report being laid before the House and published.
We believe that monopolists--the word is not intended necessarily as being derogatory; it is the way it is described in legislation--named in reports should have some prior warning of the publication of reports in order to prepare themselves to respond to press inquiries. For that reason we intend that named monopolists should be told the date and time of publication on the day before. In addition, immediately after publication of the report, they will receive a copy of the press notice announcing the Secretary of State's decision. They will also be able to collect a copy of the report from officials. Those steps will bring the practice for monopoly reports into line with that for merger reports which has worked perfectly satisfactorily.
By introducing these measures at the same time as repealing the duty in Section 83(1A) of the Fair Trading Act, we believe that we are striking the right balance between the needs of individual named monopolists and the needs of the market and investors regarding the security of price sensitive information.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 44--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Clause 70, page 39, line 4, leave out ("or") and insert--
Clause 73, page 40, line 35, leave out ("Schedule 13") and insert ("Schedule (Transitional provisions and savings)").
Clause 75, page 41, line 11, leave out ("73(2)").
Page 41, line 11, after ("section") insert ("and paragraphs 1 to 7 and 35 of Schedule (Transitional provisions and savings)").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 45 to 48.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 45 to 48.--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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("( ) section (Vertical agreements and land agreements), or").
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Clause 75, page 41, leave out lines 17 to 20.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, this is the privilege amendment. I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 49.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 49.--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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Schedule 1, page 43, line 10, leave out ("before") and insert ("at").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 50, and speak to Amendments Nos. 51 to 53, 60 and 61. These are minor drafting amendments which improve clarity of certain provisions in Schedules 1 and 3. The provisions relate to clawback in the exclusions from Chapter I prohibition for mergers, for agreements that have received directions under Section 21(2) of the RTPA, and for agreements relating to agricultural products.
The existing wording might be said to refer to a person failing before the end of the period in which information has been required by the director to comply with the requirement to provide information. The amendments make clear that the test is whether at the time the period ends he has failed to comply.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 50.--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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Schedule 1, page 43, line 11, leave out ("fails") and insert ("has failed").
Schedule 3, page 52, line 38, leave out ("before") and insert ("at").
Page 52, line 39, leave out ("fails") and insert ("has failed").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 51 to 53.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 51 to 53.--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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Schedule 3, page 53, line 38, leave out ("which").
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 54 and speak to Amendments Nos. 55 to 57. These are minor and tidying amendments. They tighten the definition of "trading practices" in relation to European Economic Area regulated markets: that is to say, investment markets set up in another European Economic Area member state which operate without requiring that the members be physically present in the territory where they are established. The amendments bring the definition into line with the definition of practices in relation to recognised investment exchanges in the Financial Services Act.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 54.--(Lord McIntosh of Haringey.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
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Schedule 3, page 53, line 39, after ("(a)") insert ("which").
Page 53, line 41, leave out ("(b)") and insert ("and which").
Page 53, line 43, after ("(c)") insert ("which").
Page 54, leave out lines 3 to 6 and insert ("an agreement to the extent to which it is made in order to comply with a legal requirement.").
Page 54, line 7, after ("conduct") insert ("to the extent to which it is").
Page 56, line 1, leave out ("before") and insert ("at").
Page 56, line 2, leave out ("fails") and insert ("has failed").
Schedule 7, page 64, line 31, after ("12") insert ("and paragraph 5 of Schedule 8").
Schedule 8, page 71, line 5, leave out from ("indicate") to end of line 14 and insert ("--
Page 71, line 20, leave out ("reverse") and insert ("set aside").
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(a) under which provision of this Act the appeal is brought;
(b) to what extent (if any) the appellant contends that the decision against, or with respect to which, the appeal is brought was based on an error of fact or was wrong in law; and
(c) to what extent (if any) the appellant is appealing against the Director's exercise of his discretion in making the disputed decision.").
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