Madam President, it is perhaps appropriate that it should be a Dutch rapporteur who is introducing an element of broader prudential supervision. I would like to remind colleagues of the background to the unfortunate Maxwell case. I would just remind my colleague, Mrs Oddy, that in fact Mr Maxwell purported to be a Socialist supporter but managed to rip off more of the employees than anybody in UK history of recent years. So I welcome this directive and the group very much supports the two amendments that the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights has tabled.

The recent BCCI case in the United Kingdom has led to a great concern that this type of fraud, as in both the Maxwell case and the bank fraud, should be prevented in the future. The directive in its present form, with the support of the two amendments, will create a better framework in the future for prudential supervision.

The EPP Group would like to congratulate the rapporteur on his excellent work and the Committee on Legal Affairs for the support that it has given him. We urge the House to support the report and to adopt the two amendments. As the rapporteur has pointed out, while the directive does go some way towards supporting this new framework of prudential supervision, it is absolutely essential that the two amendments are carried.