To ask Her Majesty's Government whether deposits made with more than one bank in which the Government have a majority shareholding, or with wholly owned subsidiaries of such banks, are aggregated for the purpose of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. [HL2195]

The Financial Services Authority is responsible for the rules of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Bank deposits are not aggregated for the purposes of the FSCS where the banks concerned are separately authorised entities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Bank deposits are aggregated if the banks concerned are not separately authorised entities but are different trading names of the same authorised entity. The presence or size of any government shareholding in the banks concerned (or in any related companies) is not relevant for determining whether deposits are aggregated. Information on the trading names used by different banks is available on the Financial Services Authority's consumer website at www.fsa.gov.uk.