Ann Abraham, the parliamentary ombudsman, has said she hopes to complete her wider inquiry into Equitable Life during next year. She bowed to pressure and agreed to reopen her inquiry into the troubled mutual in July. In a letter to MPs she said she did not propose a specific start date for her investigation although it would end on December 1 2001, when her jurisdiction over the regulators of Equitable ends.
Equitable said: "We believe the key period of investigation is the 1990s and we are very pleased that she hopes to conclude her inquiry at some point next year."
