Written question asked by Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 22 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 27 June 2007. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Tuesday, 26 June 2007 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which UK banks the Office of Fair Trading (a) is monitoring and (b) plans to monitor, with respect to the bank charges levied against individuals who exceed their overdraft limit or where a cheque or direct debit is refused.

Answer: The OFT market study into personal current accounts is being undertaken in consultation with a range of interested parties, including major current account providers and their representatives.At present the consultation with interested parties remains confidential. This exercise involves collecting and assessing sensitive information and, if the names of the persons involved in an ongoing investigation of this nature were vulnerable to disclosure, this could prejudice the full and frank disclosure of information as part of the investigation, and discourage co-operation with future OFT investigations.The findings of the study are due to be published by the end of 2007.

Secondary information