§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI beg to move amendment no. 11, in page 22, line 27, leave out "(4)" and insert "(3)".
This amendment ensures that the information which is passed to the Bank by 1212 the Department of Trade or the Northern Ireland Department of Commerce can then be passed by the Bank to its professional advisers under clause 19(3). This amendment is consequential on the principle agreed in Committee which allows the Bank to pass information to its special advisers where this is necessary to enable it properly to discharge its functions under the Bill. This relates to information which, under the Bill, the Bank can obtain anyway from the Department of Trade or the Northern Ireland Department of Commerce.
As the Bill stood, that information could not have been passed on to the Bank's professional advisers. If this amendment is accepted, the Bank will be able to do that, but confidentiality will be protected because the provisions of section 111 of the Companies Act 1967 still apply to that information. Whether that information is in the hands of the Department of Trade or the Bank of England's professional advisers, its confidentiality is protected by the 1967 Companies Act.
§ Mr. John MooreI do not wish to delay the proceedings, but the Minister of State acquired an enviable reputation in Committee for having a delicate manner of introducing amendments which always seemed to carry a good deal more relevance than we first thought.
When I first saw this small amendment substituting (3) for (4), it took a considerable time to assess it. I associate myself with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin (Mr. Stewart) about our having these amendments only last night and being forced to try to relate clause 20 to clause 19. This is an extension of an area of great importance—the disclosure of information by the Bank which it has received from other sources. It interrelates very closely with clause 19. Although I accept that it tidies up the provisions for Northern Ireland, to the extent that clause 19 is very important, I hope that the Minister of State will recognise that we shall want to return to this matter on Third Reading as many of us are disturbed about the way in which information under clause 20 is very wide.
The limitations that we discussed in Committee and the degree to which decisions may be made in the public interest 1213 need to be referred to on Third Reading. The Minister of State would be fair to tell the House that we are adding somewhat to the degree to which information can be disclosed to the Bank and can be given to sources other than supervisory bodies. It is specifically given here to those who are professional advisers to the Bank. It is an extension, and it is an extension of a breaking of a confidence. I think that there is more to it than the Minister of State has said.
§ Amendment agreed to.