Financial Services (Banking Reform) Bill

Ian Swales Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Cathy Jamieson]

I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. I do not know what was in the Government’s mind, but in Committee the Bill was very thin. We raised the matter on a number of occasions, but the Government resisted every attempt to amend the Bill in Committee, apart from on one minor detail. In retrospect, that is not the way to produce the best possible legislation. The Bill will undoubtedly have been improved by the end of the process—I do not detract from the work that has been done—but it would have sent a stronger message to the general public and the financial services industry that this place took the matter seriously if the Government had accepted amendments at an early stage.

[Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD)]

As a member of an accountancy body that deals with police professional standards and continuing professional development, I understand this issue. I also understand that the financial services industry is diverse, with many different roles. Has the hon. Lady tried to list all those roles and thought about what professional qualifications and standards are appropriate to each and every one?

[Cathy Jamieson]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. Our approach has been to suggest that that responsibility lies, rightly, with the Financial Conduct Authority. It would not be for me, as a shadow Minister, to list those roles. In relation to the definition of a professional, it is important for people to have professional development, with qualifications, on a continuous basis. One fundamental issue for professions is an adherence to a code of conduct. We tabled amendments on that consistently because we believe strongly that that is important. The wider world wants to know that the banking industry culture has changed and that malpractice, which unfortunately is still coming to light, is being dealt with.

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It should be the responsibility of banks, using methods that best fit their organisation, to maintain a certification system, and it should be the responsibility of regulators—using periodic checks—to ensure that they do. Just to be clear, it should certainly not be the job of the regulators to try to identify all these staff themselves. That would guarantee the return of the very bureaucratic box-ticking that we want to leave behind with the abolition of the APR. Those in such jobs should know that their bank may withdraw their certificate, and therefore possibly their ability to earn a living performing that function, and inform the regulator, who may in turn inform other regulators in other jurisdictions, should there be misconduct. It can be a great opportunity for many young staff to sit in front of a computer screen and trade LIBOR and earn a considerable amount of money, but that opportunity should also carry with it responsibility. In many cases that sense of responsibility was found to be wholly lacking.

[Ian Swales]

As I expected, the hon. Gentleman is making an incredibly thoughtful and powerful speech. We have used the expression “culture change” a few times in the debate today and he talked a few minutes ago about failures causing serious harm to an organisation. Does he believe the banks now pay due regard to reputational harm as well as purely financial harm?

[Mr Tyrie]

I think the banks have discovered that the scale of the damage done by the revelations and the scale of the fines that are now being imposed are systemic in implication for their institutions and that has shaken them up a lot. But I do think the culture at the top of our banks is changing. The task of our legislation is to entrench that change for a generation. We have had this crisis. The horse has bolted. What we have got to do now is devise a stable door that can keep the next horse in.

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[Ian Swales]

I will keep my remarks relatively brief. Neither of the two major parties has too much to crow about in this area, because the regulatory system is a product of both their Governments over time. However, at least this is one area where the Leader of the Opposition and the shadow Chancellor have said sorry for something they have left behind.

I am pleased with the work done by the Banking Commission, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) and my colleague Baroness Kramer for the work they have done on it. I am delighted that the Government have, perhaps kicking and screaming, at last agreed to adopt the vast majority of the proposals. I am particularly delighted that the Bill puts in place powerful measures on ring-fencing, as the Liberal Democrats have been arguing for that for years. Not only was it in our 2010 manifesto, but it was on the front page, so I am pleased to see it happening.

The background to this is clear: taxpayers should not be held to ransom by these giant organisations, particularly for high-risk activities—casino banking, as it is sometimes called. We must also remember that a lot of these institutions are highly international, so the UK taxpayer is having to stand behind organisations that have a lot of activities overseas—that, too, does not seem right. So it is good that all these measures are being introduced.

We have seen banks that used to be on the side of customers, both individuals and businesses, increasingly behave very much on the side only of themselves. We have seen scandals involving payment protection insurance, LIBOR, foreign exchange and interest rate swaps, which is the one I particularly wish to highlight. I made a speech on that a few weeks ago in this House. I said that the banks appeared to be moving at a tortoise-like pace when we were not having debates and suddenly acted like hares for a few days when we did have them. I can report that they have become tortoises again since that debate a few weeks ago. Constituents of mine who were expecting repayments in very quick time are still waiting, so I hope the Minister will keep the pressure on, although that is not strictly relevant to today’s debate. We have also seen the Co-op bank scandal and predatory activity by banks in the corporate restructuring area—that is the current scandal and I am sure we have a lot more to hear about it.

The Government have been acting on matters such as transaction levies, and making sure that fines for institutions leave the industry and do not just go around in a magic circle. The current round of fines is being used to help pay for the military covenant, which has to be a great idea. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable) is trying, although it is sometimes a lonely furrow, to do something about high pay: shareholders are being given binding votes on their company’s pay policy; companies are being forced to publish single figures for executive deals; and companies are being encouraged to inject more diversity by hiring non-executives from a broader pool of academics, public servants and lawyers. So, to a limited extent, the Government are trying to do something about that.

I particularly wish to discuss Lords amendment 41, which deals with professional standards. A joke doing the rounds when the banking crash happened named the four chairs of the big banks and asked which of them and Terry Wogan had a banking qualification. Of course, the answer is Terry Wogan and none of the others. That illustrates that for too long we have had under-qualified people in important positions. The hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi), who is not in her place, was talking about the legal, medical, pharmaceutical and accountancy professions, which have professional standards of the type she would like to see. However, it is important to note that those standards are not set and regulated in this place; they are set by the professions themselves, which have a huge vested interest in ensuring their own high reputation. Those professions also carry out much more specific and autonomous work in terms of knowing whether an individual has transgressed or not. It is much more difficult in large organisations with long decisions chains to say who is actually responsible for each individual activity. However, I urge the banking profession to think a lot more about how it can enhance its reputation, which, let us face it, is pretty much at rock bottom at the moment. It should think, “How can we have professional standards which are enforced? How can we ensure that people are kept up to date with continuing professional development and that people will be struck off?” However, that is increasingly a role for professional bodies such as the Chartered Banker Institute to be thinking about; it is not something for legislation in this place.

I welcome the work of the Banking Commission and the Government’s response to it. I welcome the extra powers that regulators are going to have as a result of this legislation, but the onus is on them to use those powers. I would like the Minister to say, at some point during today’s debate, how we are going to scrutinise the regulators to make sure that they use their new powers to their full extent.

[Emily Thornberry]

It has been said that one of the great innovations of this Bill is the introduction of the offence of reckless banking. It is not beyond our imagination to think that in 2015 the measure will be promoted on many a doorstep by people who perhaps do not fully understand what it is that is being introduced. It is one of those proposed offences that promises a great deal, but delivers very little indeed. There is nothing like it in existence in English law, and I will go on to explain why that is in a moment.

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[Sajid Javid]

The second group of amendments introduce substantial changes that will ensure that consumers get a fair deal. They will drive up competition and improve outcomes for consumers. Amendments 63 to 134 introduce a new competition-focused, utility-style regulator as a separate legal entity established under the FCA.

The Government have concerns about the payment systems market, with particular problems in three main areas: competition, innovation and responsiveness to consumer needs. Under the current arrangements, there is nothing holding big banks, payment scheme companies and infrastructure providers to account for consumers. The regulator will therefore have strong powers and objectives: to ensure that the operation of payment systems promotes fair and open competition in banking; to promote innovation in payment systems, for the benefit of consumers; and to support the interests of end users.

The regulator will have bespoke objectives and powers to address problems particular to the market for payment systems, allowing for the benefits of close co-ordination with the FCA. Once a payment system is brought into scope, the regulator will have powers over the system’s operators, infrastructure providers and providers of payment services using the system.

The payment system regulator will be equipped with a broad range of regulatory powers, enabling it to address the significant issues causing problems in the market for payment systems. To open up access and encourage greater competition, the regulator will be able to intervene and require changes to any anti-competitive fees or terms and conditions of an agreement for access to regulated systems. It will have powers to require the provision of access to payment systems. The regulator will also have competition powers exercisable concurrently with the Competition and Markets Authority.

My hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom), who is in her place, will be pleased to know that the regulator will examine the case for full account number portability within 12 months of its establishment—although, with the successful seven-day switching service, which was launched by banks in September, hon. Members should know that they do not have to wait until then if they want to switch their account quickly.

[Ian Swales]

With regard to account number portability, is the Minister concerned that in the period between now and spring 2015, when the regulator will come into force, work might slow down, rather than speed up, because of the unpredictability of the regulator?

[Sajid Javid]

I have listened to my hon. Friend carefully, and others have made that point previously, but I do not share those concerns. I think that the regulator will move on that swiftly. The changes that have so far been made to payments, such as the switching service, are already making a real difference.

Ultimately, if the payments system regulator determines that the current ownership structures need to be broken up to achieve adequate competition, it will have the power to require disposals of interests in operators of the regulated systems. It will also have the power to enforce Competition Act 1998 prohibitions against anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance and to make market investigation references to the Competition and Markets Authority.

The amendments create a competition-focused regulator in this key market.

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[Cathy Jamieson]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, whose comments were slightly more supportive than I expected them to be. He made a good point about his beloved football club. I am sure that he agrees with what I said earlier about the amount that is spent on advertising, and the worrying way in which it is normalised by being associated with football clubs and similar organisations. That particularly affects children and young people, as well as perhaps those on lower incomes.

The Minister referred to the challenges that would be faced if amendment (b) were passed and the date of implementation were brought forward. I am well aware that Martin Wheatley of the FCA set out those challenges even before writing the letter from which the Minister quoted earlier. He said that the Minister was

“aware of the challenges that we face in bringing a price cap into force by January 2015.”

The Minister said in response:

“The Government is…committed to ensuring that you can access the information you need to design the cap. The Government will bring forward secondary legislation to allow you to collect information to support your new duty as soon as possible.”

I heard him say that those regulations have now been laid. However, this strikes us as a matter of political will. If he wants the price cap to be introduced, and if he is willing to make the necessary resources available, it seems reasonable for us to press the case for the introduction of the cap by October 2014 rather than January 2015, especially as that would help us to prevent even more families from falling into the clutches of the high-cost credit market this Christmas.

Will the Minister tell us what will be done to speed up the process of the secondary legislation to which he referred? He described January 2015 as a “backstop”, but it was not clear to me whether he genuinely believed that the cap could be introduced earlier, and I think it reasonable for us to press for that to happen.

The Minister will be aware that organisations such as Which?, while welcoming the introduction of a cap on the cost of credit, suggest that it should apply to all credit products. Members have already raised the issue of authorised and unauthorised overdrafts, which, according to research findings, are often just as expensive as payday loans. It has been reported that borrowing £100 for 31 days costs £30 with a Halifax authorised overdraft and £20 with some Santander accounts, and that borrowing the same amount for the same period from a payday loan company costs between £20 and £37. Some of the banks may not feel particularly comfortable about that comparison. An unauthorised overdraft is even more expensive. I am told that in the case of the Halifax reward account and the Santander everyday account, a £100 unauthorised overdraft can cost £100 in charges. I wonder whether the Minister has taken that into account during his discussions with the FCA.

[Ian Swales]

Is the hon. Lady aware that some of those charges apply even if the overdraft lasts for only a day, let alone a month?

[Cathy Jamieson]

The specific examples that I cited had been reported to me, but I understand that in many instances high charges are applied even if people slip into an unauthorised overdraft for a very short period.

Let me ask the Minister another question. In a letter to the Minister, Martin Wheatley said:

“In designing the cap we will, as far as possible, seek to minimise potential avoidance measures. It is possible for firms located in other EEA Member States to provide a payday lending service through the internet to UK consumers within the Electronic Commerce Directive. This is not something that the FCA can mitigate.”

What assessment has the Minister made of the extent of that problem, and what can be done to reduce that? As we take things forward, it will be important that we do not simply move people from one payday lending system on to something else that could be equally difficult.

I want to say a few words about the relationship between the banks and the payday lending sector, and to focus on the question of the banks lending to the payday lenders. During the consideration of the Bill in the other place, Lord Mitchell raised this issue, and his understanding was that Barclays lent Wonga over £250 million. When he investigated that further, he discovered that the sum was apparently much higher. He raised concerns about the mission and the guiding principles of the bank and asked whether lending money to the payday lenders so they can then lend it at higher rates to people who need loans is the right thing for the banks to be doing. That raises the question of what the banks’ responsibilities are to those on lower incomes, and also the issue of the banks’ relationships with the credit unions, for example.

I feel that we must press the amendments we have tabled to a Division. I hear what the Minister has said and I have heard the comments and concerns raised by the FCA about the timetable, but I think it is reasonable to press for this to be done as quickly as possible. The Minister has said that January 2015 is the backstop date—the latest point when it could happen. I think it is reasonable for us to bring that forward and to press the amendments on data sharing to a Division.

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[Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

I rise to congratulate the Minister on the excellent introduction of an independent payments regulator. I am amazed that this absolute game changer has not received more press attention, because our banking system still, on today of all days, faces the threat of being undermined in the eyes of consumers by its appalling behaviour. Today, Lloyds bank has been fined £28 million for its appalling treatment of retail customers—that is the biggest fine for retail misconduct ever. I stress that the reason for that, as the investigations by the Treasury Committee and the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards showed, is a profound lack of competition in the UK banking sector. Even worse, we even have the last great remaining closed shop, because the Payments Council regulates the banks, yet the banks own the Payments Council, and the banks both clear through and own the payments infrastructure. So there is no incentive to innovate and no self-regulation, and there is a deliberate suppression of competition. What the Minister has done by introducing an independent payments regulator is open that can of worms. The regulator will be a real game changer for the competitive outlook in the UK in future, and I wish to explain why that is.

The proposal is for the payments regulator to look at access to the payments system. As we know, the big clearing banks access the payments system directly, but challenger banks such as Virgin Money, Metro Bank and Aldermore have to go through an agency clearer. If its systems break down, those banks cannot serve their customers. Not only that, but because these banks have to go through the clearer to access the payments system, they get charged up to 10 times or 20 times as much as the clearers have to pay for one payments transaction. It is an absolute closed shop and it is appalling.

The payments regulator’s first job will be to examine access to the payments infrastructure and to say to the big banks, “You have to give direct access to every player.” The big banks argue, “You can’t do that because we all mutually underwrite one another’s payments.” As with any other clearing system, however, it is perfectly possible to leave a deposit up front and then to be called for more margin should you be running out of money, so the reason given for not allowing other banks direct access to the payments system is a completely spurious one. That will be item No. 1, and dealing with it will, in itself, create a completely different playing field for all those who want to come into the banking sector.

[Ian Swales]

The hon. Lady is making a powerful point. Does she agree that a parallel situation would be having the big six electricity companies owning the grid and not allowing any other supplier on to it?

[Andrea Leadsom]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are huge parallels between the banking closed shop and the energy closed shop. That is something I have been picking up, and I was recently in the media with him addressing this very subject.

Giving direct access to the payments infrastructure to all banks will reduce the barriers to entry, so I want further to congratulate the Minister on accepting the Treasury Committee’s recommendation that the PRA should have a specific competition objective. That is key, because the barriers to entry do not just relate to access to the payments system; there are regulatory barriers to entry. In other words, “If you are small, you cannot become a bank. Until you become a bank, you cannot become big. Therefore, you cannot ever become a bank.” We have created an environment where there are massive barriers to entry, so the payments system changes will really start to unravel that closed shop.

Importantly, I wish to put in one plea for full bank account portability. I know that the Minister has absolutely agreed that one of the first jobs of the new payments regulator will be to undertake a full cost-benefit analysis of account number portability. That would mean that if I want to switch banks in future, instead of waiting for even seven days, having to change all my direct debits, standing orders and bank account details, and having to be issued with new credit cards and cheque books and so on, I would simply be able to have my bank account details re-pointed at a new bank and so everything would remain the same. It would be instantaneous account switching.

When we move our mobile phone account number now, we can take our phone number with us. In a world where we had full number portability, we would also be able to take our bank account details with us. That would be a radical game changer for competition. New entrants could come in and attract new business on the promise that if a consumer does not like them they can always move somewhere else tomorrow. Banks would lie awake at night wondering how to retain their customers through excellent customer services rather than what next they can fleece them with, which happens all too often now.

Competition is not the only issue. There are two other items I wish to mention. The first is about resolution. We have put in all this effort to try to ensure that, in future, a bank cannot fail. We have increased capital requirements and changed the regulatory structure, which is all to the good. None the less, we know that in future, as sure as eggs are eggs, a bank will fail. What bank number portability will do is to give an instant means of resolution to avoid ever seeing again queues of people down a street trying to get their money out of a bank that they are concerned about.

If we in the UK become the first country to introduce full bank account number portability, we will be leading the world. By creating a shared infrastructure for payments, we will create a massive business opportunity for UK plc. I congratulate my hon. Friend, the Minister, but urge him to go even further and to support, when the time comes, the prospect of full account number portability.