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Banking Bill

It certainly remains my understanding that the legislation is sufficient to take into account those issues, but I would be more than happy to meet my hon. Friends to discuss that in more detail. I now turn to the issue of partial transfers and the safeguards that the Government will put in place to protect creditors, and particularly to reduce disruption to set-off and netting agreements and security interests. I know this issue was of great interest to members of the Committee, and rightly so. Again, I can report that, when the expert liaison group met earlier this week with officials from the Treasury, the Bank and the Financial Services Authority, they continued to make good progress towards providing for safeguards that will maintain the right balance between ensuring that the authorities have the necessary flexibility to ensure an effective resolution, while protecting creditors' and counterparties' interests. We are continuing to work closely with the group on refining the safeguards and, of course, we are conducting a wider public consultation. We aim to be in a position to report back, including on the results of the consultation, early in the new year. I repeat the commitment that I have made on previous occasions—I see the process of producing the secondary legislation as being one of co-production. We want to work in detail with the industry to ensure that we get the secondary legislation absolutely right and that there are sufficient safeguards to protect creditors' and counterparties' interests. We understand the importance of that for the industry. The Bill represents the Government's considered response to some of the key lessons learned during this period of financial instability. It provides a permanent addition to the country's system for financial stability and depositor protection, and these arrangements will provide the UK authorities with a refined and proportionate set of tools to deal with difficulties in the banking sector that can affect depositors and the wider economy. It is vital to get the proposals right and to ensure that the UK's framework is sufficiently robust to deal with future as well as current challenges. So I am grateful for the thoughtful and constructive scrutiny that the House has given to the Bill, especially in the Public Bill Committee but also on Second Reading and on Report. I am sure that that constructive spirit will continue during this debate. The Bill is a vital piece of legislation that will enhance the ability of the authorities to secure the financial stability of the UK both now and in the future, and I commend it to the House.