Policies taken out with the insurer from today onwards will not qualify for free shares, though Standard intends to ask policyholders to approve windfalls for existing members whose plans mature before the flotation takes place.Sir Brian Stewart, Standard's chairman, said he continued to believe demutualisation was the best way for the insurer to deal with its "constrained" capital position. Analysts estimate the company could be valued at up to £6bn, suggesting windfalls will average between £500 and £1,000.While Standard has yet to decide exactly how windfalls will be calculated, it is likely to offer a flat-rate payment, plus an extra element based on the value of policyholders' plans and the length of their membership of the insurer.The average windfall figures could therefore be misleading, with some of Standard's policyholders set to receive shares worth substantially more.Over the next few weeks, members will be asked to confirm the details of their policies so that Standard can begin calculating policyholders' entitlements. Standard Life confirmed yesterday that its plans for a stock-market flotation next summer remain on track and promised to write to 2.5 million policyholders before the end of the month. Europe's largest mutually owned insurance company will hold a special meeting in May or June next year, at which it will need 75 per cent of votes cast to approve the listing. About 2.4 million policyholders at Standard will qualify for free shares if the demutualisation is approved - 100,000 investors who have joined the insurer since March 2004 have been required to sign away their windfall rights.

05/11 Capture Prince Tickets staging in The Forum. Prince is staging in Inglewood. Prince tickets

05/11 - 06/11 Access Boston Red Sox Tickets staging in Citizens Bank Park, Comerica Park. Boston Red Sox is staging in Philadelphia, Detroit and Boston. Boston Red Sox tickets

05/11 Bag Boston Bruins Tickets playing in TD Garden. Boston Bruins is playing in Boston. Boston Bruins tickets

The insurer insists it is too early to say exactly how much windfalls will be worth, though it will provide further details of the demutualisation before the end of the year. A second man, Terrance Shepherd, who was a day trader at the time, is also accused under the same charge. If found guilty, they could face a fine or up to seven years' imprisonment. Both men deny the charges.Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Mirror who bought thousands of pounds' worth of shares in a company called Viglen Technology, the day before it was tipped by the Slickers column, was cleared by the DTI last year..

Mr Hipwell, who worked on the Mirror's City Slickers column, is accused of creating a misleading impression of the value of investments, between 1 August 1999 and 29 February 2000. A civil servant since 1974, he has previously worked as managing director handling finance, regulation and industry at the Treasury. He served as principal private secretary to three Chancellors between 1989 and 1991.Most recently he was caught up in the dispute over the fast-tracking of a visa for then home secretary David Blunkett's former lover's nanny.Sir John was educated at Charterhouse public school and New College, Oxford He is married with two sons.. The trial of a former Daily Mirror business columnist, James Hipwell, kicked off at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday, more than five years after the Department of Trade and Industry began investigating the case.

Stephen Lewis, at Monument Securities, said: "Sir Andrew's hawkishness depended on the view that he took on the growth of credit in the financial system and what Sir John will take when he moves in may be different."In his letter, Sir Andrew said: "I realise that in all of these areas more remains to be done, but with the foundations in place, I think this is a suitable moment to hand over to a successor."Before joining the Bank, Sir Andrew was the deputy chairman of Barclays from 1998, the chairman of Euroclear between 1998 and 2000 and chairman of the Securities and Investments Board - now the FSA - from 1992 to 1997.Meanwhile, Ms Lomax warned that rising oil prices could threaten the Bank's credibility if they fed through to headline inflation.From Whitehall to the City* The move of Sir John Gieve from one of the top jobs in Whitehall across London to the Bank of England will keep rate-watchers on their toes.Gordon Brown, who gave the Bank independence on monetary policy in 1997, has a habit of making appointments with itsMonetary Policy Committee.Sir John has experience in financial stability, which will be his core responsibility at the Bank. Sir Andrew Large is to step down from the Bank after the MPC's January interest-rate meeting. It emerged yesterday that he made an early departure a condition of him accepting the job, which carries a five-year- term, in 2002.Sir Andrew was more concerned than some of his colleagues about the impact from rocketing house prices and consumer debt on the inflation target. He frequently voted against the majority at MPC meetings, arguing for higher or unchanged rates throughout this year amid concerns about inflationary pressures building within the economy.He was in a minority in half the 10 interest rates decisions taken so far this year, including in August when he joined Mervyn King, the Governor, to vote against the cut in rates.In his statement, Sir Andrew said that three major tasks set for him, such as arrangements for crisis handling and improving the Bank's risk-management processes, would be at an advanced stage by the end of the year.Economists in the City said they expected Sir John to vote with his fellow Bank employee colleagues in the initial months. He will succeed Sir Andrew Large, who unexpectedly announced he would step down 18 months early to continue a career in the private sector. The changeover, which will take place in January, will see one of the most hawkish members of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee replaced by an unknown quantity, as far as interest rates are concerned. The moves came as Rachel Lomax, the other deputy governor, warned that further rises in oil prices could push up headline inflation for an "uncomfortably long time".Sir John, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office since 2001, will assume responsibility for financial stability at the Bank. Sir John Gieve, the Whitehall mandarin who lost out to Gus O'Donnell in the race to become Cabinet Secretary, was appointed as a deputy Governor at the Bank of England yesterday.