Banking (Special Provisions) Bill

moved Amendment No. 9: 9: After Clause 10, insert the following new Clause— ““Impact on competition Where an authorised deposit taker is subject to an order made under section 3, or where the property, rights and liabilities of an authorised UK deposit taker have been transferred to a body corporate under section 6, the Office of Fair Trading shall— (a) lay before Parliament annually a report on the impact of the competitiveness of the market in the UK of the activities of the authorised deposit-taker or of the body corporate to which property rights and liabilities have been transferred (as the case may be); and (b) report to Parliament as soon as it identifies a significant adverse effect on the competitiveness of the market in the United Kingdom as a result of the activities of the authorised deposit-taker or of the body corporate to which property rights and liabilities have been transferred (as the case may be).”” The noble Lord said: Amendment No. 9 seeks to address a major flaw that was picked up by many of your Lordships yesterday during Second Reading, and was widely covered in the press this morning. As a nationalised bank, Northern Rock will, among many other things, have access to significantly cheaper money than its competitors, and so will be able to offer better terms to customers. This unfair practice would, of course, be damaging to the operation of the whole British banking sector. The Minister may tell me in his response that even without this amendment the Competition Commission or the EU state aid rules will be a sufficient check on such damaging behaviour. However, we are concerned about the Competition Commission’s powers over state-owned companies. Furthermore, I cannot accept that a far off and extremely broad brush set of criteria in Brussels is an adequate substitute to a nationally recognised and respected body whose remit is exactly suited to maintaining a watching brief over a nationalised Northern Rock and the impact it will have on the wider banking sector. So my amendment seeks also to give the OFT the duty to report to Parliament, not only when it identifies an adverse effect but also annually to reassure Parliament and the public that their legitimate fears about unfair competition are not being realised. I hope that the Minister will appreciate the sense behind this amendment. I beg to move.