10 February, Simon Jones replied to the SIMEX letter of 27 January, which had been discussed at Barings’ Asset and Liability Committee. Simon Jones wrote that BFS is aware of the necessity of being able to meet its financial obligation to the SIMEX Clearing House at all times. BFS deals almost wholly as a broker on behalf of the other companies in the Baring Investment Banking Group. Margin called from these Group companies is met immediately through Group Treasury. The Group’s external customer business is mainly transacted by Baring Securities Limited which minimizing the exposure of BFS to customer default. Any shortfall in customer payments falls on Baring Securities Limited in London but not BFS. It is the policy of the Baring Investment Banking Group to ensure that risks of all kinds, including exposure to exceptional intra-day calls for settlement variation and advance margin are manages actively. All risks are monitored daily by the Group’s risk unit and reported to the Asset and Liability Committee. Immediate action is taken to correct situations where the Group is over-exposed to a particular risk. Of open positions are an exceptional margin call by SIMEX might exceed existing overdraft facilities, additional funds are made available in advance to BFS’s clearing bank to ensure that the largest anticipated call can always met.