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Banking Bill

In moving Amendment 129, I will also speak to Amendments 130 and 131. These are probing amendments. We have at last progressed to Part 2 of the Bill, but I cannot yet say that the end is in sight. The amendments seek to alter Clauses 93 and 94, which set out the grounds for applying for and making a bank insolvency order. There are three grounds for applying for an order. They are set out in Clause 93(1): ground A, the inability to pay debts; ground B, the public interest; and ground C, fairness. They operate in a rather strange way, which is why I have tabled these probing amendments. If the Bank of England or the FSA applies for a bank insolvency order under Clause 93, it has to be satisfied that either ground A or ground C applies—that is, that there is an inability to pay or unfairness. Under Clause 94, the court has the same task of being satisfied on either ground. My amendments would change that so that both grounds must be applicable. I cannot see that the Bank or the FSA should go to the court simply on grounds of fairness or that the sole criteria for the court making an order should be fairness. That implies that, if the bank were able to pay its debts, some notion of fairness could still trigger a bank insolvency. I would be obliged if the Minister would explain that and, in particular—if this is not a mistake in the Bill—what the word ““fairness”” means in this context. In relation to Secretary of State applications under Clause 93(4), why does the Secretary of State have to satisfy himself only about ground B, on public interest? However, when that application gets to court, the court has to be satisfied about ground B, public interest, and ground C, fairness. Why are the Government not given the requirement to satisfy themselves on fairness before applying for an order? Doubtless, the Minister will see why I have been confused about how the grounds for applying for a bank insolvency order work. I beg to move.