Clause 228
Banking Bill
3:15 pm
Colin Breed (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South East Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
In a moment. While I will not press the amendment to a vote, I think it right to raise these issues. The Minister thinks she need merely say that of course the FSA will not carry out illegal acts in the future. There is no evidence from the FSA that the current powers for it to perform its function under the Financial Services and Markets Act have been restrictive, have stopped it obtaining the information it requires or have stopped it from sharing information. There is no evidence that it requires any such use of the words
“or in any other way”.
Frankly, unless the Minister explains to the Committee exactly why this power is needed or how the FSA has been restricted by the Financial Services and Markets Act, she will have to justify it to the House if the matter is raised at a later stage.