Mr. Bernard Sheridan:

The Deputy is correct that we had concerns, but that is what they were. As we have set out, we checked with the Maltese authorities on the firm's solvency position. Clearly, that was their responsibility. The Deputy can read the response in their statement. They are responsible as the supervisory authority, but when our concerns continued, we did not leave the matter there. We were concerned about what impact the company's financial position could have on how the firm processed claims for which we had responsibility under the code in terms of ensuring they were dealt with fairly. We visited the firm to determine what was happening with claims. Based on a relatively small sample of files, our concerns were confirmed, but they related to how the claims were being reserved for on individual files, not the firm's solvency position. We felt it important to refer the matter to the appropriate authority, which we did. We forwarded the report to that authority and continued to engage closely with it to ensure it dealt with the matter as quickly as possible. As the prudential regulator, it was the only one with a full picture of the company. We had a small window - the small number of claim files - through which to look into the company.