Agencies and managed solutions

Are agencies legally allowed to 'force you' to use one of their approved management companies?

My situation is as follows:

I work in the mobile 'phone industry installing, trouble-shooting (whatever really!) 3G UMTS mobile telephone infrastructure. I am English, have a house in the UK but work outside of the UK, mainland Europe mostly although Asia-Pacific a few times.

My last 2 x contracts have been via UK agencies.

Myself and a good friend have a company 'My Co' Corporation registered in the Seychelles and the company account with Barclays. We set up this company as we felt management companies were just over charging for handling an invoice &, most of the time, did little else. My friend and I have both been contracting for around 15 years and we are quite old enough to manage our own affairs, getting an E111 is hardly rocket science, and finding 'local in country accountants' and dealing with local taxation is no big deal. 'My Co' does incur costs, company bank account costs, local auditing and accounting etc. but they are still far less than the (roughly) eu2500 for a typical managed solution (eu5000p.a for the both of us). Plus the 'My Co' Corporation costs are split between the two of us.

My previous contract (Spain) the agency was happy to use 'My Co' Corporation. I had full visibility of funds and there were no bank charges.

My present contract (Monaco) the agency refused to use 'My Co' Corporation and, instead, said I must use one of the management companies that they deal with.

I refused the contract because I would not pay the fees of the management company.

The agency agreed to pay the management fees for the initial 3 month contract.

However, upon first invoice being paid...eventually...there were eu50 'bank charges' deducted by the management company. This is not a massive sum but it is quite enough to keep me in Golden Virginia for 2 months (at European prices) ;-)

So I, finally, get to the questions:

1 - Are managed solutions allowed to pass on the alleged bank charges to me? And if so how can I get proof that these are genuine charges and not just a scam to increase their profits? Even if they only have a hundred clients it's still eu5000 a month extra income!

2 - Are agencies allowed to force a contractor to use their approved solutions when the contractor can supply a legit solution of their own - Incorporation papers, company bank account with a recognised bank etc?

3 - Should I be extended into the new year the agency have said they will not continue to pay the management fees. As it is written into my initial contract could I move to another agency if my present refuses to renew on the terms of the initial contract?

Whatever happens I am NOT paying for management services I do not need or want!

Phew...I've finished! I hope I haven't bored you too much?

many thanks

--

RichC