Dear listener,

Since I last wrote I have claimed my expenses from the BBC for the eight months November 2008 to June 2009. Over those 35 weeks I claimed a total of £95.28 and yes that does include two taxi fares. Sorry for the profligacy but on both occasions I was representing Money Box at an evening event which finished very late and it was that or walking. There are also two Travelcards and the odd light snack during a day away doing recording, including 65p for a Kit-Kat. Altogether it comes to £2.74 a week. Dear oh dear. When will this extravagance at your expense be brought to an end? Read the heady details on my website by putting my name into a search engine and ignoring my namesakes (hint: I don't play the piano or sing).

And from real money to a new currency called the Brixton Pound. The south London community is planning to become the third in Britain to have its own currency after Lewes in Sussex and Totnes in Devon. (I am sure someone will tell me there are more but these three belong to a group called Transition Towns). The Lewes pound, launched last September, has just issued new versions of its L£1, L£5 and L£20 notes. The Brixton pound will be formally launched at Brixton Town Hall on 17 September. The intention of these local currencies is to support local businesses by getting local people to spend their money locally. Project Manager Tim Nicholls sees it as the start of localisation of the economy, a small part in a movement against globalisation. If that sounds a bit highfallutin, people using the Brixton Pound will get discounts from some of the local shops and eateries which will accept it. Currently there are 37 and everyone expects many more by September. I mention all this because I will be talking about it on The Politics Show on BBC1 on Sunday morning shortly after 1130 – London only. Or log on to http://brixtonpound.wordpress.com where there are also links to the other local pounds. And if you live or work in Brixton you still have a few days left to vote on the design of the B£.

*** IN THE BEST RADIO PROGRAMME THIS SATURDAY ***

The Fundamentally Secretive Agency (FSA) has been at it again. This time telling MPs it wouldn't release the names of companies which had imposed hefty penalties on people in mortgage arrears. Some are reported to charge as much as £150 for a debt adviser to visit or £75 to write a letter. Charges which, of course, push up the debt. The FSA knows who they are and is taking enforcement action against four of them. But it is keeping all their names secret. "We don't name firms until after enforcement action has been successfully completed against them" MPs were told by Retail Managing Director Jon Pain. Is that really part of its regulatory objective 2(2)(c) the protection of consumers? We hear the complaints of consumer group Which? And get a live response from the Council of Mortgage lenders.

Government and Opposition are battling it out over regulating the financial services industry. We are keeping the politics out of the debate and talk to representatives of the banks and a group called FairBanking which has a very different view of how banks should be run. We will be asking how banks do and should treat their customers.

Barclays gets a bit of stick as the owner of First Plus, a lender it bought some time ago which is now closed to new business. It is accused of keeping interest rates on its secured loans high despite the fall in the bank rate to a historic low of 0.5%. Customers are naturally annoyed. And we hear an interesting view of the legality of the lender's terms and conditions. First Plus will respond.

We will also be looking at boiler rooms - the illegal high pressure sales organisations which persuade up to 30,000 often sensible people a year to part with their cash for shares in companies that do not exist. How do they do it? And what can be done to stop this scam which nets crooks hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK alone?

Such is the exciting nowness of live radio (I made that word up) that there may be more, there may be less, there may be something different by the time we go on air. Find out by listening to Money Box on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 9pm, or through our website any time or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. Go to our website bbc.co.uk/moneybox to do that, Have Your Say, watch videos, read more about being the Best Radio Programme and explore in depth the items covered this week. In May our web pages and stories hit another new high with viewings now more than 620,000 in the month.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS: Don't forget the programme taster on BBC Breakfast between quarter to nine and nine o'clock. If you miss it, you can watch it on our website.

e-mail Paul Lewis