§ Mr. Proudfootasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will give a direction to the Bank of England to take steps to abolish the system of priorities in bank lending and refrain from fixing the rate charged to exporters and shipbuilders and from prescribing the type of bills considered eligible collateral;
(2) if he will give a direction to the Bank of England to abolish the minimum 28 per cent. liquidity ratio, the special deposits requirement, and the 8 per cent. cash ratio, and allow the banks to determine their cash and liquidity ratios in 54W accordance with the principles of prudent commercial practice;
(3) if he will give a direction to the Bank of England to charge the clearing banks the real cost of the banking services which it performs for them;
(4) if he will take steps to instruct each individual banking organisation to provide a complete tariff of charges for performing various services, including the hours they remain open to the public, which should not be agreed upon beforehand with other banks;
(5) if he will take steps to bring an end to restrictive practices which discourage the co-operative banks, savings banks, building societies and foreign banks from entering retail banking, and from becoming members of the clearing house;
(6) if he will take steps to bring an end to the practice whereby interest rate agreements between the discount houses and the banks are made;
(7) if he will take steps to bring an end to the practice whereby the discount houses tender as a syndicate at the weekly offer of Treasury Bills;
(8) if he will take steps to allow the trustee savings banks to pay interest on their current accounts, accept deposits from industrial firms, and offer overdraft facilities.
§ Mr. HigginsThese Questions touch upon a wide range of issues affecting the conventions and practices of banking in this country. My right hon. Friend keeps such matters under review in the light of successive contributions to discussion of the subject; he has no statement to make.
§ Mr. Proudfootasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will direct the Treasury and the Bank of England to pay interest on the cash holdings of the banks, namely the special deposits, at a rate equal to that on Treasury Bills.
§ Mr. HigginsInterest is already paid on special deposits at a rate currently equivalent to the yield on Treasury Bills