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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

This is a sensible amendment. I have two comments. First, in the case of someone like Aung San Suu Kyi, if by any chance she found herself with a dormant account 30 years afterwards, she would still be able to access it under the legislation. Secondly, the noble Baroness is suggesting that the banks should exercise their discretion. My experience is that the banks increasingly feel unable to exercise discretion and are bound by rigid rules for fear of litigation of various kinds. The obvious example is that as a result of the money-laundering regulations, even where you are a customer of the bank and the bank knows everything it can about your circumstances, if you wish to change accounts or add your signature to another account at the same bank, you have to go through the same procedure as if you were a complete stranger. The way in which banks are now behaving goes against the grain. It is a pity because the amendment would provide a logical and common-sense approach. However, the world in which we live is moving away from logic and common sense to a rule-based approach in virtually every case.