The British government today launched an inquiry into the cause of mutual life assurer Equitable Life's dramatic slide into financial difficulty.
The government said it had appointed Lord Penrose to head an independent investigation into Britain’s oldest mutual, which closed to new business last December because of an estimated £1.5 billion capital shortfall.
A government spokeswoman said in a statement the inquiry would have a much wider brief than an investigation currently being carried out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
The FSA, which supervises the financial industry, has been criticised by disgruntled Equitable policy-holders.
