Clause 226
Banking Bill
3:15 pm
Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury; Wallasey, Labour)
I emphasise again that the clause is designed purely to clarify the existing Financial Services and Markets Act on the basis of the way that it is usually interpreted and to create certainty. That also has a bearing on potential systemic risk and relates to the effectiveness of regulation, which does bear on what we are talking about. This is not an extension of power, but a clarification that will make it clear beyond doubt that the powers actively used by the FSA and laid out in the Financial Services and Markets Act are being used as they were intended to be. It removes a bit of legal uncertainty, but it does not change current practice.