Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) focused assets covered under the Asset Protection Agency and (b) focused assets underwritten by the Asset Protection Agency that were transferred to West Register between 2009 and 2012.

The Asset Protection Agency (APA) was set up in 2009 to manage the Asset Protection Scheme (APS), with the objective of maintaining financial stability and protecting taxpayers’ interests by helping participating banks manage their exposure to high-risk assets.

The 2009-10 APA Annual Reports and Accounts state that the APS initially provided protection on £282bn worth of assets on the consolidated balance sheet of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. The detail of these assets is commercially sensitive. The Annual Report can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130129110533/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/apa.htm

To develop a more streamlined and better focused monitoring process for these assets, in 2011 and 2012 the APA stopped reviewing certain low risk assets and instead focused on a number of larger, high risk assets, known as the “Focus List”. Further information on the make-up of the Focus List can be found at http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-0368/DEP2012-0368.pdf and at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229293/0120.pdf.

Further detail on the assets underwritten by the APA, including the assets that were transferred to West Register, an RBS subsidiary, between 2009 and 2012, is commercially sensitive information in relation to RBS’ customers.