To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an assessment of the merits of providing assistance to investors in the Presbyterian Mutual Society in Northern Ireland. (268725)

[holding answer 20 April 2009]: The Government sympathise with the difficult situation faced by members of the Presbyterian Mutual Society (PMS). Organisations such as PMS, which are registered as industrial and provident societies, are exempt from regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in accepting deposits. Under Industrial and Provident Society legislation, any one member's shareholding is limited to £20,000. Members' deposits are held in the form of withdrawable share capital and societies should make clear to members that their deposits are therefore risk capital. Being outside of FSA regulation, the society and its members do not contribute to, and are therefore not protected by, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).