§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which current powers of the Bank of England to make regulations, inspect or supervise, control credit limits and permit companies to operate as banks in the United Kingdom would, in the event of full adherence to monetary union, be within the authority of or subject to limits set by the European Central Bank. [55691]
§ Ms HewittThe responsibilities of central banks in Stage Three of economic and monetary union are described in Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty and in the ESCB Statute (Protocol No. 3 to the Treaty). If the UK joined EMU, national legislation, including the statutes of the Bank of England, would have to be made compatible with the Treaty and the Statute.
In the UK, responsibility for the authorisation and supervision of banks was transferred from the Bank of England to the Financial Services Authority by the Bank of England Act 1998. The Treaty does not assign to the ECB a direct role in the prudential supervision of credit institutions which remains primarily the responsibility of individual Member States. Any extension of the ECB' s role in this area would require the unanimous approval of all Member States under Article 105(6) of the Treaty.
Were the UK to join the single currency, UK banks' holdings of minimum reserves with the Bank of England would need to be compatible with the requirements imposed by the ECB under Article 19 of the ESCB Statute at that time.
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