Clause 174
Banking Bill
12:15 pm
Peter Bone (Wellingborough, Conservative)
I draw attention to subsection (1) and the wonderful word “may” in the phrase:
“The Bank of England may publish principles”.
Those principles have been working in practice for a great number of years, but I understand that there is no necessity to publish them because they are being used anyway and the regulatory impact assessment says that there will not be any change. Is it the Government’s intention that the clause is only in the Bill in case they think that the principles need to be published, or do they definitely intend to publish them? If so, why does the Bill not state that the Bank of England “must publish”? I am not clear whether that is something that the Government are holding in reserve or whether they will take such action. If that is their intention, perhaps the Bill should be amended at a later stage.