Clause 195
Banking Bill
6:00 pm
Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury; Wallasey, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman has alighted on one of the points that we were keen to modernise in the legislation around commercial issuance of the banknotes, to ensure that there was no ambiguity about which existing notes could be regarded as issued for the purpose of backing assets. He has discovered immediately one of the areas of ambiguity that we seek to put right, and he is right to point out to the Committee why it is important to do so. If a note has been issued accidentally or because of theft, it is still a promise to the individuals using it, and it needs to be backed by the appropriate assets.
The hon. Gentleman is quite right. He has alighted on an ambiguity, and he has pointed out why it needs to be made unambiguous. That is what the clause will do.