Banks: Regulation
(asked on 9th November 2020) - View Source
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of UK-registered companies that have the word “bank” in their name but do not have Part 4A permission under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to carry out regulated banking activities.
The estimates requested are not held by HM Treasury.
As you may know, a bank is defined as a UK institution that has permission under Part 4A of the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) (2000) to accept deposits and is a credit institution. Financial services, including banks, are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) which are independent non-governmental bodies, given statutory powers by the FSMA as amended by the Financial Services Act (2012) and financed entirely by the financial services industry.
Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own. The Treasury has no general power of direction over the regulators and therefore cannot intervene in individual cases. You can find a list of FCA and PRA regulated firms on their websites at:
FCA: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/financial-services-register
The word ‘Bank’ is a sensitive word which requires approval of the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) under section 55 of the Companies Act 2006 and The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business Names (Sensitive Words and Expressions) Regulations 2014. Companies House carries out this function on behalf of the Secretary of State. Anybody wishing to register a company name that includes the word ‘Bank’ must also first obtain a letter of non-objection from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as required by the Regulations. On receipt of the letter on non-objection, Companies House will register the name.