asked the Secretary of State for Trade if advice was given to the Board of Nation Life by his officials that Nation Life would be covered by Section 48(2) of the Insurance Companies Act 1973 in the event of its collapse.
My officials advised the directors that Section 31(2) of the 1973 Act would require the liquidator.
unless the court ordered otherwise, to carry on the long-term business of the company with a view to its being transferred as a going concern to another company, if possible; in fact, the provisions of the 1948 Act were still in force, and they permit the liquidator to act in this way if the court so agrees. In the case of Nation Life, since the liquidator did get the court's direction to act in that way, the practical outcome has been the same. I regret that wrong advice should have been given: but fortunately, as I have explained, the error has had no material effect on the actual course of events. The liquidator has the power to carry on
January-March 1975
| January-March 1974
| ||||||
£'000 cif
| Tons
| £'000 cif
| Tons
| ||||
| Federal Republic of Germany | … | … | … | 3,214 | 6,529 | 749 | 1,896 |
| Netherlands | … | … | … | 6,293 | 7,510 | 2,569 | 3,071 |
| Belgium and Luxembourg | … | … | … | 532 | 1,147 | 202 | 488 |
| France | … | … | … | 2,132 | 4,984 | 1,683 | 3,483 |
| Italy | … | … | … | 84 | 33 | 82 | 36 |
| Denmark | … | … | … | 46,791 | 67,860 | 42,047 | 65,264 |
| Irish Republic | … | … | … | 23,566 | 33,340 | 15,575 | 23,883 |
Note: Carcase meat has been defined as fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or smoked meat, whether or not in airtight containers (SITC(R) Groups 011 and 012). | |||||||