Dear Mr. Ogilvie,

Thank you for your letter of 9th February, to which I respond. We expect to take up other matters arising from our meeting of 1st February separately.

I would like to make clear that whilst we want the report finished as quickly as possible and will point out potential damage caused by slippage we do not want to hamper or damage your investigation.

You now report that issues have arisen that were not specifically mentioned in the heads of complaints on which you consulted at the start of the investigation. The Board of EMAG supports your consideration of such further issues as part of your investigation, and confirms that such issues would be within your published terms of reference, as they should be within the spirit of the general complaint that the regulators failed for considerably longer than a decade to exercise their functions properly.

It is natural that in an investigation of such scope as yours not every detail can be anticipated by the complainants. We understood the heads of complaints as setting out the minimum set of issues requisite for comprehensive investigation, given the evidence available at the time. Your intention to investigate further issues, as yet unknown to us, in connection with the regulatory returns and their scrutiny, within the terms of reference of the investigation, is in accordance with that understanding.

Yours sincerely

Tom Lake
Chairman
Equitable Members Action Group Limited (EMAG)