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Banking

Volume 400: debated on Tuesday 4 March 2003

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To ask the Secretary of state for Northern Ireland for what reasons banking institutions in Northern Ireland were excluded from examination and control by the Director General of Fair Trading, with particular reference to excessive charging for current accounts; and if he will make a statement. [96746]

I have been asked to reply.The Competition Commission, in its report on the supply of banking services to SMEs, made an adverse Public interest finding in relation to the charging of excessive prices and therefore the making of excessive profits by the largest four clearing groups operating in England and Wales. These were HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and RBSG. The Fair Trading Act 1973 does not empower the Secretary of State to impose remedies on a company in the absence of an adverse finding. The Director General of Fair Trading was therefore required to seek undertakings in relation to interest on current accounts in surplus, or provision of free money transmission services, from these four banks only in respect of their operations in England and Wales. The conclusions of the Commission's reasoning is reported at paragraph 2.418 to 2.431 and 4.490 to 2.495 of its report.