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Sunday, 22 November 2009
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Government, citizens and rights
Banking Reform Bill
The purpose of this bill is to improve the resilience of the financial system and support financial stability by strengthening depositor protection and dealing with banks in difficulties
The main elements of the Bill
The main elements of the Bill are:
- enabling the Bank of England to lend in a more effective manner - including by allowing short-term non-disclosure of liquidity assistance by the Bank of England
- enabling the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to collect information on banks in difficulties and removing any impediments to them sharing it with the FSCS to assist it icarrying out its functions, and the Bank of England or HM Treasury, where relevant to maintaining financial stability
- the introduction of a 'special resolution regime' to allow the authorities (HM Treasury, Bank of England and FSA) to intervene when a bank gets into severe difficulties - this includes the introduction of an insolvency regime for banks
- strengthening the arrangements underpinning banknote issuance by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland
- improvements to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to facilitate faster payout
- providing the Bank of England with a financial stability objective and amending the size and composition of the Bank's Court
Additional links
Draft Legislative Programme
The public consultation on proposals for new laws has ended - the Government will now be considering the responses received
