My Lords, in our meeting last week, following on from the group headed by Amendment 16, which was moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, we discussed the challenges of facilitating social investment by charities and the implications for trustees; indeed, that issue came up in the debate that we have just had. We went through the intricacies of programme-related investment and mixed-motive or, in my words, mixed-purpose investment. As I said then, I felt that my noble friend did not give us
an entirely satisfactory answer. However, I am grateful for his agreement to have a meeting, if necessary. I also know that he has managed to fix up a meeting to let the lawyers argue it out—a mere mortal probably cannot contribute much to that debate.
This amendment is designed to move the discussion forward to a parallel, but important, development of a social investment market involving new people from among the public. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, is not here, as I am sure that he would be horrified by this. So far, we have been dealing only with committees, trustees or people who are well caught up in the charity world. What we must try to do is to find people who are interested in supporting charities but are not yet committed to doing so. As I said last week, and say again now, it must be counterintuitive to enable people only to give money but not invest it. However small the chances may be of getting your money back, no matter how meagre the rewards may be, it must be better, and people must be more likely to give money, if they have a chance of seeing a return on it.
After we finished our debate last Tuesday, by a happy coincidence I received a 61-page booklet, Developing A Global Financial Centre for Social Impact Investment, which contained some interesting research carried out by the City of London. I will not read out the 61 pages, but the booklet’s conclusion states:
“A number of major financial centres, largely national capitals, have been at the forefront of driving change so far, with London pre-eminent among them. Our research suggests that London has certain features that it must address—not least in relation to ensuring a supportive regulatory environment, accreditation, enabling greater retail investment, developing its skills base and technical assistance models—if it is to be a global financial centre for social impact investment”.
I wish to focus on enabling retail investment—one of the proposals that the City of London document suggests is important and which Amendment 22A addresses. What stands in the way of developing a wider retail base? It is essentially the financial promotion regime. The document further states:
“The Financial Promotion Regime is particularly relevant to the UK social investment market. Though 90% of lending to this market was in the form of secured loans in 2011/12, social enterprises are increasingly in need of unsecured debt capital. Projections by Boston Consulting Group suggest that by 2015, demand for investment into the market will reach £750m, 58% of which will be in the form of unsecured debt and 15% in equity-like capital. The role of the retail investor in helping to provide this capital is as yet untapped, although there is survey evidence of an appetite among retail investors to make social investments. The creation of a Social Investment Tax Relief (‘SITR’), as announced in the 2014 Budget, is also designed to encourage a wider individual social investor base in the UK”.
So all appears set fair, but what then are the problems? One of them is, of course, that the total amount being invested by investors is small. The document continues:
“The Financial Promotion Regime does not distinguish between large investments and small investments. Where small investments are being made”—
individually—
“the risk of loss will be less but this is not acknowledged. In the social investment market, most investments are likely to be relatively small in size. The total amount being raised as part of the offer is small: social enterprises typically seek to raise”,
sums,
“of less than £100k. Ordinary retail investors therefore provide a good ‘match’ for social investments in terms of the size of the investment opportunities available. However, the Financial Promotion Regime treats all investment raises beneath €5m in the same way and does not make it any easier for social enterprises to raise small amounts of money”.
Another issue is that the investor is investing with certain significant non-financial goals. Social investment may often be considered by investors as an alternative to philanthropic donations, as I have just explained. Although the Financial Services Act recognises that investors may invest with non-financial goals, the financial promotion regime does not yet expressly recognise this possibility. There are no exemptions or any lighter-touch regulatory requirements where investors are investing primarily with non-financial goals or with significant non-financial goals in mind, such as the desire to support the cause being furthered by a social enterprise. Finally, does the investor live locally in the community of the investee seeking the investment?
Those are some of the difficulties that are currently being faced. So what is the answer? We have gone a certain distance of the way, because the Financial Conduct Authority recognises an experienced investor. That is to say that, if someone has a certain knowledge and a certain amount of wealth, they do not have to go through all the hoops that one does if one wishes to offer it to the man on the street. That is quite right. We should be trying to promote a social investor—a social investor who has a different approach. That is what my amendment seeks to do.
This is a permissive amendment. The Treasury may, by regulations, set out rules. They must be proportionate and easy to understand and follow and they must be enabling and facilitative. They must also take particular regard of charities that operate locally to the consumer, the desirability of consistency of approach, the difference of expectation and, last but not least, the desirability where appropriate of the Financial Conduct Authority exercising its functions in a way that recognises differences in the nature and objectives of charities as compared to other organisations that are subject to the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Regulators are always risk-averse; they are always terrified that they are going to end up with egg on their face. Therefore, if we do not find a way to make them understand that this is different, we will have a very long, difficult uphill road. I say to my noble friend—and, in his absence, to the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, given what he has said before—that this is not a better or worse investor regulatory regime; it is a different one. It is trying to deal with different sorts of situations.
There is a final anomaly, which the Committee should be aware of. There is a loophole in the financial promotion regulations for industrial and provident societies such as co-ops and community benefit societies. Provided that they are offering non-transferable debt instruments or non-transferable shares, the financial promotions regime does not apply, only the general law—that is the point made by my noble friend Lord Borwick at Second Reading. Non-transferrable means illiquid; it means that, once bought, the purchaser is stuck with it for ever. Both the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, and, I think, the noble Lord, Lord Watson
of Invergowrie, expressed concerns in our earlier debate about the general social investment for charities having unquantifiable risks and the need for diversification and liquidity. This is a real challenge. If we do not rebalance the regulatory regime to put social investment generally on the same footing, the investment market will gradually tilt itself towards IPSs, co-ops and community benefit societies. I have nothing against that form of organisation—I am sure that they do a very worthy job—but this does restrict the growth of a wider social investment market.
To conclude, I am sure that my noble friend will say—my X-ray eyes can see what is on his notes—that this is one for the Treasury. That is fair enough, but in 2012 a number of us in Committee bashed away at the passing of the Financial Services Act. His colleague on the Front Bench, the then Treasury Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Sassoon, said that this was very interesting but one for the Charity Commission. We are never quite in the right place at the right time. To be fair, I recognise the increased specialist attention being given by the FCA, but we need another incremental step forward to help the growth of retail investment and this amendment will provide it. I beg to move.
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