Financial Services Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 23 April 2012, in the House of Commons.

Financial Services Bill. Programme motion (No. 3) agreed to on division (277 votes to 183). Report stage of Bill as amended in Public Bill Committee, first day.

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

543 c686-780

Session

2010-12

Department

Treasury

Legislative stage

Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Financial Services bill. As amended in Public Bill Committee. In two volumes.
Friday, 23 March 2012
Bills
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Andrea Leadsom | 543 c742-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. He has probably given me the reassurance that I was seeking. It...

Chris Leslie | 543 c743 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. That is right. We are not saying that these powers might not be necessary. However, let ...

Show all contributions (155)

Stewart Hosie | 543 c743 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that there would be anger, but there would also be economic c...

Chris Leslie | 543 c743 (Link to this contribution) I did indeed consider the downside of having parliamentary scrutiny that might in some way impact ad...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c743 (Link to this contribution) Does the Opposition spokesman agree that what we really need is a commitment in principle to a super...

Chris Leslie | 543 c743-4 (Link to this contribution) I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. That is the very least that we should have. I simply counse...

Mark Hoban | 543 c744 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman believe that Parliament should override the detailed rules of regulators?

Chris Leslie | 543 c744 (Link to this contribution) In certain circumstances, Parliament should be sovereign. That is an important principle in our cons...

Alun Cairns | 543 c744 (Link to this contribution) It would helpful if the hon. Gentleman could outline some of the circumstances in which Parliament s...

Chris Leslie | 543 c744-5 (Link to this contribution) It is entirely hypothetical. Of course we cannot do that at this stage, but there might be circumsta...

Chris Leslie | 543 c740 (Link to this contribution) It was the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself who warned against the stability of the graveyard. We...

Stewart Hosie | 543 c740 (Link to this contribution) I support the amendment in principle, but surely it should have referred to a range of impacts, in t...

David Mowat | 543 c740 (Link to this contribution) I thank the shadow Minister for his lecture on macro-prudential tools. I was on the Joint Committee ...

Chris Leslie | 543 c740-2 (Link to this contribution) We want to see more competition in the financial services sector. That is an important aspect of imp...

Mark Hoban | 543 c742 (Link to this contribution) We have spent a lot of time discussing the issue. Does the hon. Gentleman not remember that the powe...

Chris Leslie | 543 c740 (Link to this contribution) I accept that. It gets to the nub of the issue. There is no single variable that has an impact like ...

Guy Opperman | 543 c740 (Link to this contribution) I endorse the points made by the Chair of the Treasury Committee. Is it the accepted view on the sha...

Chris Leslie | 543 c742 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Lady as I know she has thought about the matter in great depth. It is i...

Chris Leslie | 543 c742 (Link to this contribution) That was a minor concession but, as we can see, we have possibly an hour and a half to debate a majo...

Andrea Leadsom | 543 c742 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Alun Cairns | 543 c703 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to follow the hon. Gentleman's argument, but how on earth could any individual or organi...

Chris Leslie | 543 c703 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right that it is impossible to predict with certainty, but this is about scena...

Alun Cairns | 543 c703 (Link to this contribution) I fail to understand the logic of the hon. Gentleman's argument. If someone's financial position at ...

Chris Leslie | 543 c703-4 (Link to this contribution) We are doing this because the hon. Gentleman and I are here to represent our constituents, some of w...

Chris Leslie | 543 c700-2 (Link to this contribution) I suppose the Minister is right in one respect. This long group of amendments under the catch-all he...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c702 (Link to this contribution) I have a huge amount of sympathy with the hon. Gentleman's points about some companies that prey on ...

Chris Leslie | 543 c702-3 (Link to this contribution) That is a fair intervention. No, I would not say that they are all the same. There are companies, ev...

Chris Leslie | 543 c704 (Link to this contribution) There might well be a case for that, but we are talking about people's homes and the roofs over thei...

Mark Garnier | 543 c704 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c708-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak to new clause 12, which I tabled along with many other hon. Members. It wo...

Jessica Morden | 543 c709 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend add to that list my constituent Deborah Harvey, who was a Farepak agent and who ...

Nick de Bois | 543 c707 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend refers to the review, but alongside other points he has made, would it be worth consi...

Justin Tomlinson | 543 c707-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. In previous debates, I focused my anger on the techniques o...

Chris Leslie | 543 c704-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman might know that in annual pension statements, for example, in the key facts docum...

Justin Tomlinson | 543 c706-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak briefly to a number of amendments that are inter-linked, because the protection of vul...

Mark Garnier | 543 c704 (Link to this contribution) I am incredibly grateful to the hon. Gentleman. He talks about an incredibly significant problem in ...

Robert Buckland | 543 c709 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is outlining the gap between the perceptions of those who were saving with Farepak, wh...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c709 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on her work on this issue. She led an Adjournment debate about it shor...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c709-10 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He has shown that he has a full grasp of t...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c710-1 (Link to this contribution) I begin by warmly welcoming the Government amendments that provide further clarity on the intention ...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one cause for concern must be the fact that organisations profit from ...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) Of course I would encourage such organisations, and as my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (...

Yvonne Fovargue | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that one problem is that consumers making a distress purchase do not know w...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) I agree that the companies that spend money on unsolicited calls to people who may have a financial ...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady consider the fact that it is not necessarily about whether there are charges so m...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c712 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely, and we already have a provision to enable that to happen. My hon. Friend said tha...

Stella Creasy | 543 c712-4 (Link to this contribution) Borrowing has always been a part of the British way of life and part of our debates in the House as ...

Justin Tomlinson | 543 c714 (Link to this contribution) There is a lot of competition, but because people cannot understand APRs, it is irrelevant. If repay...

Stella Creasy | 543 c716-7 (Link to this contribution) We should listen to the companies themselves. They state explicitly that they are coming to the UK a...

Yvonne Fovargue | 543 c717-9 (Link to this contribution) I rise to support several of the amendments. I will speak first to new clause 9 on the phasing out o...

Stella Creasy | 543 c714-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman slightly pre-empts me. I was about to say that the doorstep market, 67% of which ...

Susan Elan Jones | 543 c716 (Link to this contribution) Are the Government extremely weak on this issue compared with other Governments around the world?

Neil Parish | 543 c719-20 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the House for not being here at the start of the debate. I congratulate the hon. Mem...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c720 (Link to this contribution) The point of payday lending is that it should be for a very short period. Such issues arise when the...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c719 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady talks about the OFT not having the power to suspend, but does she agree that the new p...

Yvonne Fovargue | 543 c719 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe that it has yet been confirmed that they will include the power to suspend a compan...

Justin Tomlinson | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) I cannot resist intervening on this specific point. With financial education, consumers can make inf...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) I think financial education is extremely important, but on its own, it will not necessarily equip pe...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) That is indeed the case. I am not suggesting that we should not have financial education. What I am ...

David Mowat | 543 c721 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned Wonga, and he was right to suggest that 4,000% is an absurd rate of interes...

Steve Rotheram | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) One of my constituents wrote to me to say that he thought he had had a particularly good deal becaus...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c721-3 (Link to this contribution) In speaking to the new clauses and amendments in this group, the Minister appeared to say that many ...

Neil Parish | 543 c720 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is absolutely right. It needs to be clearly set out when people take out a loan that s...

Neil Parish | 543 c720-1 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. Many of the people taking out these loans earn less than £15,500 a year an...

Stella Creasy | 543 c720 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, although limiting the number of roll-overs is certainly a step i...

Mark Hoban | 543 c726 (Link to this contribution) This has been a thoughtful and helpful debate, which has raised a number of issues. The hon. Member...

Alun Cairns | 543 c725 (Link to this contribution) There are clauses that allow for product intervention and refer to terms and conditions, but that on...

Stella Creasy | 543 c725 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman enlighten the House on his concern about the expertise of the FCA and its ab...

Alun Cairns | 543 c725 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Lady, and I trust that I shall then have a chance to respond to her ques...

Stella Creasy | 543 c725 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Alun Cairns | 543 c725 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree. That is one of my reasons for opposing amendment 40. In my view, it will not achie...

Alun Cairns | 543 c723-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate and to speak to the amendments. I welc...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that important point of view. If we do not take steps to deal with high-...

John McDonnell | 543 c729 (Link to this contribution) Both of the issues under discussion have cross-party support. There is a consumer affairs element in...

Mark Hoban | 543 c729 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is my understanding that some of these prepayment schemes...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c730 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mark Hoban | 543 c729-30 (Link to this contribution) I think that there is adequate provision in the Bill on consumer credit; the FCA has the powers to t...

Speaker | 543 c730 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Reports by skilled persons—

Stella Creasy | 543 c727 (Link to this contribution) There is genuine concern about the view of lawyers that unless the power is explicit, it will be ope...

Chris Leslie | 543 c727-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister's comments. Setting aside whether he thinks the new clause should be added to...

Mark Hoban | 543 c727 (Link to this contribution) I am certain that the FCA's broad range of powers will enable it to do that. It can use its powers i...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c729 (Link to this contribution) What is different about this situation, however, is that often the reason for prepayment is that the...

Mark Hoban | 543 c728 (Link to this contribution) I do not think this needs regulatory action. I think it is in the interests of lenders to provide th...

Chris Leslie | 543 c739-40 (Link to this contribution) This goes back to the odd statement from the Minister in Committee, when he said it would be wrong f...

Chris Leslie | 543 c737-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr Tyrie)—or is he right honourable? If he is not, he should...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c737 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that support from my Committee colleague. Competition is now one of the operationa...

Mark Field | 543 c734 (Link to this contribution) I entirely endorse what my hon. Friend has said. May I also say, in my role as the Member for the Ci...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c733-4 (Link to this contribution) As a number of colleagues across the House will have noticed, the Treasury Committee took the highly...

Andrea Leadsom | 543 c736 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is also regrettable that the FCA, despite another request from the...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c735-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend tempts me towards a place I would very much enjoy going, but—in the interests of I ca...

Mark Field | 543 c735 (Link to this contribution) Given that, as my hon. Friend puts it, we are dealing with an unprecedentedly powerful institution, ...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c734-5 (Link to this contribution) I have heard a good number of those concerns from the practitioners to whom my hon. Friend refers. W...

Mark Hoban | 543 c698-700 (Link to this contribution) Part of the challenge is that such schemes are part of a subset of advanced payment schemes that are...

Mark Hoban | 543 c697 (Link to this contribution) I ask the hon. Lady just to hold her horses for a moment. This is about the third time we have discu...

Nick de Bois | 543 c697 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister understand that the sense of concern is heightened by the fact that although the r...

Mark Hoban | 543 c697-8 (Link to this contribution) I do not have that information on me, but I will endeavour to have it by the time I wind up the deba...

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 543 c698 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister does not feel that this Bill is the appropriate vehicle for dealing with that matter...

Mark Hoban | 543 c694-7 (Link to this contribution) New clause 4, which is the most significant of the Government new clauses and amendments in the grou...

Alun Cairns | 543 c697 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the comments that have been made about the Bill and, specifically, about amendment 40. ...

Mark Hoban | 543 c697 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, as we face a challenge in that respect. First, we believe t...

Speaker | 543 c693 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 5—Amendments to Tribunals, Cou...

Mark Hoban | 543 c687 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Nottingham East (Chris Leslie) protests too much about this matter. Those of us ...

Chris Leslie | 543 c686-7 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the Minister has moved the programme motion formally, given that today—day one o...

Mark Garnier | 543 c751-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Leeds East (Mr Mudie), with whom I serve on the...

Mark Hoban | 543 c752 (Link to this contribution) May I make it clear that the FPC has ruled out intervening on loan-to-value ratios? It is important ...

Mark Garnier | 543 c752-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that clarification. Interestingly enough, though, it is perhaps ...

Bob Stewart | 543 c753 (Link to this contribution) What happens when the FPC gets things wrong? How will it be held responsible for the decisions it ma...

Mark Garnier | 543 c753 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend's intervention, because that is exactly the point I am coming to. W...

John McDonnell | 543 c753-5 (Link to this contribution) I am not part of the charmed circle of the Treasury Committee, but I wish to add my congratulations ...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c755 (Link to this contribution) I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that the report does not reflect any back-room deals, but I would ...

John McDonnell | 543 c755-6 (Link to this contribution) I wholeheartedly agree, but sometimes in relationships with the Government a line is drawn in the sa...

John McDonnell | 543 c756 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point I am seeking to make. This post will have wide responsibilities and the de...

Sheila Gilmore | 543 c745 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend also give some thought to those organisations that will be dual regulated and th...

Chris Leslie | 543 c745-6 (Link to this contribution) That is why it is important that at the very least they have information, and some level of accounta...

David Ruffley | 543 c746-8 (Link to this contribution) I rise to support new clause 1 briefly. I had the privilege of sitting on the Joint Committee on the...

George Mudie | 543 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Chairman of the Treasury Committee on new clause 1. I disagree with what was said...

David Mowat | 543 c746 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Chris Leslie | 543 c746 (Link to this contribution) I was just coming to my conclusion and am conscious that other Members wish to speak, so I will not ...

George Mudie | 543 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) One can see many scenarios. I have seen many political philanthropists since I have been a Member of...

Kelvin Hopkins | 543 c750 (Link to this contribution) I agree with very much of what my hon. Friend says. When the Bank of England was given its independe...

George Mudie | 543 c750 (Link to this contribution) I accept that point, which has been made clear all the way through, but that is negative language ra...

David Rutley | 543 c749-50 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman is very knowledgeable about these matters and was on the pre-legislat...

Speaker | 543 c780 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order. Let me say two things to him in response...

John McDonnell | 543 c780 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Speaker. The main purpose of the Financial Services Bill was to secure corporate resp...

Speaker | 543 c780 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I appeal to Members who are planning to leave the Chamber to do so quickly and quietly, s...

John McDonnell | 543 c780 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The main purpose of the Financial Services Bill—

Lord Tyrie | 543 c767-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for what I have heard this evening. He has shown enough flexibility fo...

Alun Cairns | 543 c767 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend recognise the strength of a practitioners panel in relation to the PRA, given th...

Mark Hoban | 543 c766-7 (Link to this contribution) I think that it is important that the court's non-executives perform a full role in scrutinising the...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c766 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister clarify a couple more points? First, when he says that he is committed to the publ...

Mark Hoban | 543 c766 (Link to this contribution) We are clear that we want to see the court's minutes published, which I think is absolutely vital, a...

Chris Leslie | 543 c766 (Link to this contribution) I just want to be clear about what the Minister is saying. Is he saying that when the Bill comes bef...

Mark Hoban | 543 c765-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. We need to ensure that the right scrutiny arrangements are ...

Lord Tyrie | 543 c764 (Link to this contribution) I realise that the Minister will not want to commit himself to change anything now, but would he be ...

Kelvin Hopkins | 543 c762-3 (Link to this contribution) I rise to express my strong support for the amendments in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for ...

Mark Hoban | 543 c763-4 (Link to this contribution) This has been a thoughtful and constructive debate covering the wide range of issues in this group o...

Speaker | 543 c760 (Link to this contribution) Quite a few more hon. Members wish to speak and the Minister wants to come in at 9.40 pm, so if we c...

Mark Field | 543 c759-60 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. I want to touch on the impacts, however. Smaller fir...

Guy Opperman | 543 c761-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak in this debate, albeit briefly. Like Mark Antony in ““Julius Caesar””, I c...

Mark Durkan | 543 c760-1 (Link to this contribution) I wish to join others in acknowledging the strong case that members of the Treasury Committee have m...

David Mowat | 543 c758 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend's comments about MF Global and the fact that we did not learn...

Mark Field | 543 c757-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be part and parcel of such an interesting debate. I especially commend the speec...

Alun Cairns | 543 c759 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making very forceful points, especially on the FSCS. As that is currently funded b...

Mark Field | 543 c758 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with what my hon. Friend says. However, the special administration in respect of M...

Chris Leslie | 543 c704 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, but there are a number of other amendments I have to talk about.

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 543 c711 (Link to this contribution) That should ideally be the situation, and when the new regulations are produced there should be a ca...

Chris Leslie | 543 c712 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Lady's comments, but if she cannot support the new clause, will she at least j...

Neil Parish | 543 c721 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I do. Many people in the banking sector would probably disagree, but I believe that anything ov...

David Rutley | 543 c724-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a characteristically powerful speech about his concerns about various produ...

Mark Hoban | 543 c693 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Diane Abbott | 543 c756 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that this is not just a matter of the relationship between the Government ...

David Rutley | 543 c704 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the rationale that the hon. Gentleman is putting forward and that he is trying to prote...

Stella Creasy | 543 c723 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Much as I support a good deal of what the hon. Member for Nor...

David Rutley | 543 c738-9 (Link to this contribution) There is a sense of déjà vu, as the Bill Committee spent a lot of time debating this measure. The ho...

Mark Hoban | 543 c767 (Link to this contribution) What is important is that the PRA establishes its process for consultation with regulated firms. It ...

Subjects

Consumers

Accountability

Debts

Banks

Credit

Advisory services

Bank of England

Fees and charges

Financial services

Financial institutions

Interest rates