Banks fight over £10bn euro bill

12 April 2012

BANKS are reportedly stalling on vital preparations for the euro unless they're guaranteed compensation from the public purse should Britain stick with sterling - a payout the industry puts a £10bn.

Government departments are lobbying the major High Street firms to speed up the development of the infrastructure needed to convert to the euro should Britain vote in favour of joining, The Business newspaper reported.

But the banks refuse to start the development of money-transmission and settlement systems unless the Government assures them it will pay for the systems should the single currency be rejected.

'We are not prepared to commit the huge spending on systems until we get a clear commitment on single-currency entry or an assurance that there would be relief if it never happened,' one banking director, unnamed, reportedly told the paper.

The banks estimate it would take three years to build and operate the infrastructure needed to cope with the changeover.

Gordon Brown is to warn pro-euro Cabinet colleagues that a swing in public opinion behind the currency does not justify a snap referendum on joining.

The Chancellor was more concerned about what would happen after Britain joined, rather than whether Government could win a referendum, the Sunday Times reported. 'It is whether people think we have made the right decision, and for that the five tests have to prove that we have achieved settled and durable convergence,' an unnamed adviser was quoted saying.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in