To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they propose to prevent United Kingdom retail banks from levying excessive or hidden charges on bank customers.

I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to Lord Laird on 7 July 2009 (Hansard, col. WA 123).

"Bank charges are a matter for the regulatory authorities. The treatment of charges is set out in the Banking Code, which is monitored by the Banking Code Standards Board.

The Financial Services Authority will introduce a new conduct of business regime, covering all retail banking services within its remit on 1 November 2009. It will introduce a new principles-based framework and conduct rules. The Financial Services Authority will consult on areas where additional rules or guidance may be needed.

The Office of Fair Trading is pursuing a test case against a group of banks on the fairness of unarranged overdraft charging terms. It is also working with stakeholders to address the concerns identified in its market study into the operation of the market for personal current accounts. This, together with the resolution of the bank charges test case, will open the way to introduce transparent price structures and simpler mechanisms for switching from one provider to another".