Mr. Gerry Cross:

I obviously cannot comment on individual firms, individual cases or supervisory restrictions. There are several aspects. The cum-ex issue is very important. It potentially involves a range of issues of concern, including whether the firm is in compliance with the basic regulations that apply to it or the individuals. It is fundamentally about the culture and behaviour within a firm as evinced by its business model. We would look very closely at that aspect in that context. As the Deputy indicated, it is very relevant in our considerations about the fitness, probity and suitability of the person. It is a really important issue which manifests itself in a number of ways. In addition, there could be criminal aspects to it. That is how we think about it. Of course, it is a very complicated context. We have engaged closely with the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, the European Banking Authority, EBA, and other European authorities on this. It is a complex picture and it is necessary to look at the circumstances of each individual case.

I agree with the Deputy on the issue of directorships of several different companies. We have pressed quite hard on the issue over recent years. I do not have the numbers to hand but we have set out the appropriate numbers including hours, commitments, etc. We can do the maths on how much time an individual should commit to a directorship and therefore how many directorships can be legitimately or appropriately held. It is an important issue. If it goes beyond a certain level, we would have questions and we have been pressing quite hard on that issue.

There can be umbrella structures where a director has several directorships of sub-entities within that. That is a slightly different picture. On the whole, I agree with the Deputy that a limited number of directorships should be held in order for a job to be done well.