§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to extend the new regulations relating to excessive charging by banks in England and Wales to Northern Ireland. [48853]
§ Ruth KellyThe Government accepted in full the conclusions of the Competition Commission report into the supply of banking services to SMEs in the UK and have asked the Director General of Fair Trading to seek undertakings from the eight main clearing banks to implement the remedies suggested. The majority of those remedies will apply through the UK and are designed to improve competition in this market. In addition the Competition Commission found evidence of excess profits for the four largest clearing banks in England and Wales, but not in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Consequently, their recommendation that banks should be required to offer interest or free banking to SMEs will apply only in England and Wales.