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Banking Bill

Perhaps the noble Lord can clarify one point. I am somewhat concerned about the drafting because we appear to start with the objectives and then turn to how the relevant authorities will deal with them, rather than the other way round. Does Clause 4 say that each and all of the relevant authorities shall be able to use the stabilisation powers, the bank insolvency procedures and the bank administration procedures, or is the intention in fact that the Treasury will have one lot of powers, the FSA another lot, and so on? I am unclear about the extent to which the drafting ties this provision down as tightly as it should by using the term ““relevant authorities”” in the first two subsections of Clause 4. I hope that I have explained the point clearly.