§ Mr. FallonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what applications(a) the Hinduja brothers and (b) their companies have made for a UK banking licence since May 1997; and which Ministers were involved in the applications. [147796]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonApplications for authorisation of banks have been decided by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) since 1 June 1998, and were previously the responsibility of the Bank of England. The Government have had no role in this process before or after that date. The FSA publishes the list of authorised institutions.