Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill

My Lords, with the leave of the Committee, I, too, would like to participate in these proceedings although, like my noble friend, I was prevented from participating in the Second Reading debate. I strongly support the amendment put forward by my noble friend for the reasons that he has explained very well. I do not think that I can improve on his excellent explanation, but your Lordships should consider that governance would not be improved if there is a situation where the holding company has a completely different membership from the boards of the ring-fenced subsidiaries, and that applies most strongly in the case where the excluded activities comprise only a small part of the activities of the group as a whole. But even in the case where a relatively greater amount of excluded activities are carried out within the group, if the board of the holding company with responsibility to shareholders is comprised of completely different people from the board of the principal operating subsidiaries, does that provide for effective governance? I therefore would like to hear from the Minister something more about what “to a specified extent” means in new Section 142H(5)(d).