UK's Osborne says no plans to loosen banks' ring-fence

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British finance minister GeorgeOsborne said on Tuesday that he did not intend to allow a looserimplementation of rules separating British banks' retail andinvestment banking operations.

Osborne's commitment to tough banking regulation has beenquestioned since he decided last week not to renew the contractof the chief executive of the country's Financial ConductAuthority, Martin Wheatley.

Asked by a member of parliament about a media report thatfinance ministry officials were preparing to relax incomingring-fencing rules, Osborne said he was unaware of this.

"That's not the case. These are decisions now for theregulators. You know (Bank of England Governor) Mark Carney, youknow (BoE Deputy Governor) Andrew Bailey. These are not peoplewho would welcome being leant upon by me," he said.

"Broadly speaking we should let a lot of this bankingregulation settle down. I would include the ring-fencinglegislation." (Reporting by David Milliken and William James, editing by AndyBruce)