Clause 173
Banking Bill
12:15 pm
Ian Pearson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Dudley South, Labour)
I can assure the Committee that the Treasury always wants to act in a supportive and helpful manner in these areas. The hon. Gentleman raises some practical points about what might happen if an inter-bank payment system was in decline and no longer had any systemic importance. The Bank of England will monitor the situation closely. It will undoubtedly be in contact with the operator. The tripartite authorities work very closely together. In those circumstances, there would be no alarms and no surprises. On the question whether reasons would be given if the Treasury refused a request of an operator to de-recognise a payment system, in the spirit of openness and transparency, the Treasury would naturally want to give its reasons. I am happy to place that comment on the record for those who look at these things.