Barclays says that it will stop providing asset finance to firms with a turnover of less than £5m a year. This comes less than one week after Project Merlin the agreement between the main banks and the government which was supposed to secure additional lending to small businesses. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS and Santander agreed to lend £190bn more to businesses this year, and £76bn of that should be for small and medium sized firms. Small business will now no longer be able to gain finance from Barclays to buy vehicles, machinery and computers. This will hamper capital investment in order to create jobs. Business Secretary Vince Cable talked about breaking up the banks at the weekend. The Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers, is currently considering the link between retail banks and investment banks. Cable is also concerned by a lack of competition in the sector. He believes there needs to be a radical change in the sector.