Bank of England announces change to deposit protection limit

• Treasury Committee

Recipe for more uncertainty

Commenting on the announcement, Rt Hon. Andrew Tyrie MP, Chairman of the Treasury Committee, said:

"The announcement today of another change to the deposit protection limit – there have been about seven in the last decade – is a recipe for yet more uncertainty.

Each change will have carried a cost. It's extremely valuable for the level of deposit protection to be well known for long periods. This allows savers and small businesses time to adjust. Stability is what is needed. That is what can entrench public confidence in depositor protection, the most valuable commodity of all.

These recent changes have not been the fault of the PRA. They are an EU requirement, imposed by the European Commission. The current EU rules have always been unacceptable to a country such as the UK, in the EU but outside the Eurozone.

The absurd situation, in which the UK is left vulnerable, at the discretion of the European Commission, to frequent changes in our deposit scheme, must be brought to an end. Brexit should give the UK the opportunity to set its own level of protection. We should take it."

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