Clause 193
Banking Bill
6:00 pm
David Gauke (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
I thank the Minister for her informative introduction to part 6. There are various issues that we want to address, not least the issues of backing assets and the balance between Bank of England notes and other assets. I will address those when we come to the appropriate clauses.
I should be grateful at this stage if the Minister would list the commercial banks that are currently entitled to issue notes. She stated that the Government are keen to continue to allow commercial banks to issue notes. We do not disagree with that. It is an historical curiosity, but there is nothing wrong with historical curiosities. The Minister will not be surprised to hear a Conservative say that. Will she elaborate on why the Government are keen to continue to allow that to happen?
Finally, I thank the Minister for publishing the draft regulations that relate to this matter. They will help our debate as we proceed through the coming clauses.