Banking Commission will consider bank splits

A new body set up to examine how to improve stability and competiveness in the banking industry will ask 'hard questions' about how Britain's banks operate, its chairman said today in its first issue paper.The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB), which is chaired by economist Sir John Vickers, is expected to consider whether the major UK banks should split their retail and investment arms or be forced to divest assets to boost competition. The ICB was set up by the new government three months ago to assess British banking following the 2008-2009 financial crisis."Questions about the structure of banking need to be debated in an open, rational way, and we would like to invite anyone with an interest to provide us with views and evidence," Vickers said.The ICB will conduct an in-depth review of the structure of the banking market in Britain including issues such as market share and whether banks should make "living wills" that lay out a plan to wind themselves down without government help if they hit serious financial trouble.All of the chief executives of the big four UK banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland - are expected to appear before the commission, with the issue of splitting investment and retail arms likely to be top of their agendas.However, many within the banking industry think it is unlikely that the big banks will be forced to break up, pointing out that they may set up bases overseas if the regulatory environment becomes too tough. Aside from Vickers, the commission comprises Clare Spottiswoode, the former director-general of Ofgas, Martin Taylor, a former chief executive of Barclays, Bill Winters, the former co-chief executive of JP Morgan, and Financial Times journalist Martin Wolf.